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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE    CONFLICT    OF    COLOUR 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

MEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


THE 
CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

The    Threatened    Upheaval 
throughout   the   World 


BY 

B.   L.   PUTNAM   WEALE 

AUTHOR  OF 

MANCHU  AND   MUSCOVITE;    THE  RESHAPING  OF  THE  FAR  EAST;    THE 

TRUCE    IN    THE    EAST    AND    ITS    AFTERMATH  ;     THE    COMING 

STRUGGLE  IN  EASTERN  ASIA  ;    THE  FORBIDDEN  BOUNDARY; 

THE  HUMAN  COBWEB;    ETC.,  ETC 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1910 

jUI  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1910, 
By   B.  LENOX  SIMPSON. 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  November,  1910. 


J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mm*.,  U.S.A. 


College 
Libraiy 

HT 
1521 
56?lc. 


"Die  Politik  is  keine  Wissenschafc,  wie  viele  der  Herren 
Professoren  sich  einbilden,  sondern  eine  Kunst." 

Bismarck^  speaking  in  the  Reichstag  on  March  15,  1884. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/conflictofcolourOOwealiala 


PREFACE 

The  writer  submits  these  pages  in  the  full  con- 
sciousness that  they  do  no  more  than  touch  on  the 
fringe  of  a  mighty  subject.  Yet  because  that  subject  — 
worid- politics  and  world-movements  —  has  profoundly 
interested  him  since  his  earliest  years,  he  ventures  to 
hope  that  in  these  papers  some  guidance  may  be  found 
to  a  general  understanding  of  the  growing  Conflict 
of  Colour  throughout  the  world.  The  subject-matter 
has  been  cast  in  as  popular  a  form  as  possible,  so  that 
it  may  be  easily  read  —  the  more  technical  points  being 
thrown  into  footnotes  for  purposes  of  reference. 

It  is  necessary  to  state  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
these  papers  appeared  in  an  abbreviated  form  in  The 
World's  Work  in  both  England  and  America;  and 
the  writer's  thanks  are  due  to  the  proprietors  of  that 
journal  for  permission  to  republish  his  studies  in  their 
present  dress. 

B.   L.    PUTNAM  WEALE. 

Peking,  China,  June,  1910. 


Vll 


CONTENTS 


PACB 

General  Introduction    .        .     • i 


CHAPTER  I 
How  Colour  divides  the  World  of  To-day       ...      85 

CHAPTER  II 
The  Yellow  World  of  Eastern  Asia 122 

CHAPTER   III 

The    Brown    World    of    the    Middle    East    and    the 

Near  East 184 

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Black  Problem 228 

CHAPTER  V 
General  Conclusions 264 

Appendix    I. :   The   Chief    Colonial    Powers   and    their 

Possessions 321 

Appendix  II.:  Density  of  Populations 331 

Index 333 


IX 


THE   CONFLICT   OF   COLOUR 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION 

The  task  which  the  writer  has  set  himself  to  perform 
in  the  pages  that  follow  is  at  once  definite  and  indefinite. 
In  all  matters  where  diligence  of  study  and  an  ob- 
servance of  facts  has  made  it  seem  permissible,  he  has 
not  hesitated  to  express  himself  in  uncompromising 
terms  and  to  draw  his  own  very  definite  conclusions.^ 

*  The  historian  Guizot  (History  of  Civilization  in  France,  Elev- 
enth Lecture)  gives  a  singularly  lucid  analysis  of  the  duties  of  the 
historical  writer  in  the  following  words :  — 

"Every  epoch,  every  historical  matter,  if  I  may  so  speak,  may 
be  considered  under  three  different  points  of  view,  and  imposes  a 
triple  task  upon  the  historian.  He  can,  nay,  he  should,  first  seek 
the  facts  themselves;  collect  and  bring  to  light,  without  any  aim 
than  that  of  exactitude,  all  that  has  happened.  The  facts  once  re- 
covered, it  is  necessary  to  know  the  laws  that  have  governed  them; 
how  they  were  connected;  what  causes  have  brought  about  those 
incidents  which  are  the  life  of  society,  and  propel  it,  by  certain  ways, 
towards  certain  ends. 

"I  wish  to  mark  with  clearness  and  precision  the  difference  of 
the  two  studies.  Facts,  properly  so  called,  external  and  visible  events, 
are  the  body  of  history;  the  members,  bones,  muscles,  organs,  and 
material  elements  of  the  past;  their  knowledge  and  description  from 
what  may  be  called  historical  anatomy.  But  for  society,  as  for  the 
individual,  anatomy  is  not  the  only  science.  Not  only  do  facts  sub- 
sist, but  they  are  connected  with  one  another;    they  succeed  each 

B  X 


2  THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

But  since  in  geo-politics  there  exists  such  a  large  num- 
ber of  imponderables  —  factors  which,  though  they 
are  not  susceptible  of  accurate  classification  and  estima- 
tion, are  often  more  weighty  than  aught  else  —  in  many 
parts  of  this  detailed  enquiry  it  has  been  necessary  for 
him  to  take  refuge  in  generalities  and  to  evade  direct 
deductions.  This  is  perhaps  equivalent  to  confessing 
that  nothing  final  or  decisive  can  be  said  about  the 
very  matters  which  are  just  the  most  interesting,  and 
regarding  which  people  must  always  be  most  curious. 

Yet  though  this  serious  limitation  may  be  admitted 
as  in  some  degree  true,  so  clear  has  the  conviction 
become  in  the  writer's  mind  —  after  an  exhaustive  study 
in  one  great  quarter  of  the  globe  —  that  certain  forces 
are  being  inevitably  ranged  against  one  another  as  they 
have  never  been  before,  that  he  ventures  to  believe  that 
a  general  consideration  —  no  matter  how  imperfect  it 
may  be  —  of  a  subject  which  most  intimately  concerns 
every  member  of  the  human  race,  will  be  of  very  wide- 
spread interest.  To  the  white  races  in  the  lands  of  the 
coloured  peoples,  the  twentieth  century,  unlike  all  its 
predecessors,  can  only  prove  a  century  of  retroaction 
and  redemise;  and  it  is  from  this  point  of  view  that 
the  whole  vast  question  of  the  conflict  of  colour  will 
be  considered.  Though  any  orientation  of  politics 
based  on  a  foregone  conclusion  is  necessarily  faulty,  it 
is  at  least  possible,  by  adopting  this  method,  to  avoid 
that  distressing  ambiguousness  which,  because  it  touches 

other,  and  are  engendered  by  the  action  of  certain  forces,  which  act 
under  the  empire  of  certain  laws.  There  is,  in  a  word,  an  organ- 
isation and  a  life  of  societies,  as  well  as  of  the  individual.  This 
organisation  has  also  its  science,  the  science  of  the  secret  laws  which 
preside  over  the  course  of  events.     This  is  the  physiology  of  history." 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  3 

on  all  matters  in  strictly  qualified  language,  not  only 
fails  to  give  real  guidance  but  actually  tends  to  increase 
doubt  and  confusion.  The  time  has  come  when  facts 
should  be  boldly  met  —  when  men  should  understand 
that  the  world,  with  all  its  inherited  wisdom,  is  admit- 
tedly bewildered  by  being  brought  face  to  face  once  more 
with  the  oldest  of  problems  —  the  conflict  between 
East  and  West. 

The  first  and  main  reason  for  this  new  state  of  affairs 
must  be  sought  for  solely  in  that  vast  double  movement 
which  some  too  confidently  believe  heralds  the  days 
when  men  will  be  inclined  to  compose  their  differences 
peacefully  rather  than  resort  to  the  arbitrament  of  war. 
This  double  movement  is  simply  the  modern  growth  of 
populations  and  the  modern  growth  of  real  knowledge, 
as  opposed  to  the  old  knowledge,  which  was  so  largely 
based  on  tradition  and  superstition  and  was  therefore  so 
false  and  so  misleading;  and  because  this  movement  is 
now  so  universal,  it  escapes  the  close  study  and  attention 
it  surely  deserves. 

The  growth  of  modern  populations  is  alone  porten- 
tous: it  is  not  only  marvellous  to  the  statistician,  but 
it  actually  means  that  density  of  population  will  in 
future  decide  to  an  ever  greater  extent  the  grand  move- 
ments in  world-politics.'     Yet  to-day,  perhaps  because 

*  The  writer  is,  of  course,  aware  that  there  is  an  element  of 
weakness  in  this  argument,  since  it  follows  that  if  density  of 
population  is  soon  to  become  the  determining  factor  in  political 
evolution  —  a  point  which  he  himself  constantly  insists  upon  — 
nations  which  are  standing  still,  such  as  France,  Spain  and 
Portugal,  must  sooner  or  later  submit  openly  to  the  influence  of 
others,  who  will  pour  in  their  men.  This  will  mean  war  —  not 
necessarily  unsuccessful  to  the  numerically  weaker  nations.  But 
to  put  the  matter  differently  and   to   use  a   useful   simile,   Europe 


4  THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

they  are  a  little  weary,  people  are  far  more  apt  to  dwell 
with  melancholy  on  the  solitary  instance  of  a  Euro- 
pean State  which  seems  to  have  reached  the  station- 
ary condition  —  France  ^  —  than  to  reflect  on  the  marvel 

may  be  compared  to  an  unequal  terrain  on  which  water  is  steadily 
collecting  in  certain  places  to  a  greater  and  greater  extent.  An 
overspill  is  bound  to  occur  on  to  the  higher  barren  places  when 
the  level  reaches  a  certain  altitude.  The  greatest  density  of 
population  in  any  European  country  is  to-day  about  600  to  the 
square  mile,  in  Belgium,  and  Belgians  are  already  spilling  into 
France.  When  Germany  reaches  that  density  a  similar  movement 
will  possibly  commence;  and  though  Spain  and  Portugal  are 
effectively  isolated  by  mountain-ranges,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
unless  they  arise  from  their  torpor,  their  future  is  sealed.  Thus 
we  may  really  see  one  day  a  new  infiltration  of  Germanic  peoples 
over  Latin  Europe  (with  the  exception  of  Italy),  for  it  is  impossible 
for  populations  to  attain  a  density  of  2,000  or  even  1,000  to  the 
square  mile  without  overspilling  on  to  more  empty  lands.  But 
all  this  belongs  to  a  political  future  too  distant  to  be  considered  in 
any  practical  way  to-day.  A  fresh  mixture  of  Teutonic  with 
Latin  blood  may  cause  a  repetition  of  the  history  of  fifteen 
centuries  ago. 

*  Alison,  in  his  History  of  Europe,  written  more  than  half 
a  century  ago,  has  the  following  informing  footnote  on  this 
pregnant  question  of  French  population  (Vol.  L,  p.   119):  — 

"Now,  to  show  the  capability  of  the  soil  of  a  country  of  this 
description  to  maintain  an  increase  of  inhabitants,  let  us  consider 
merely  what  may  be  raised  from  40,000,000  of  arable  acres,  little 
more  than  one  half  of  its  arable  ground,  and  considerably  less 
than  a  third  of  its  total  superficies.  The  average  produce  of  arable 
land  in  all  the  counties  of  England  is  two  quarters  and  five 
bushels  to  an  acre  —  M'Culloch's  Statistical  Account  of  Englandy 
p.  476.  Take  it  as  two  quarters  only  in  France,  to  be  within  the 
mark,  and  we  shall  have  40,000,000  acres  yielding  80,000,000 
quarters,  which  would  feed  80,000,000,  and  that,  without  pressing 
upon  the  limits  assigned  by  the  physical  extent  of  its  natural 
capabilities  to  the  increase  of  man,  a  hundred  and  twenty  millions 
might  be  maintained  with  ease  and  comfort  on  the  French 
territory.  This  calculation  will  excite  surprise,  and  by  many  be 
deemed    incredible:    let    those    who    are    of  this    opinion    examine 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  5 

of  the  expansion  of  the  English,  a  race  which  in  some 
three  centuries  appears  to  have  multipHed  nearly  twenty- 
five  fold.^     When  it  is  remembered  that  to-day  the  world 

and  point  out  what  is  overcharged  in  the  data  on  which  it  is 
founded.  It  leads  to  a  conclusion  of  the  very  highest  importance, 
and  which  bears  with  overwhelming  force  upon  the  history  of  the 
Revolution;  for  it  shows  that  the  French  people,  when  that  con- 
vulsion broke  out,  were  far  within  the  limits  of  their  possible  and 
comfortable  increase;  and  consequently  that  the  whole  suffering 
which  had  preceded,  and  crimes  which  followed  it,  are  nowise 
chargeable  on  Providence,  but  are  to  be  exclusively  ascribed  to 
the  selfishness,  the  vices,  and  the  corruption  of  man. 

"Another  peculiarity  in  the  physical  situation  of  France,  both 
before  the  Revolution  and  at  this  time,  is  very  remarkable,  and  de- 
serves to  be  noted,  both  from  its  important  bearing  on  economical 
principles,  and  from  rendering  the  dreadful  devastation  of  the 
Revolution  the  more  surprising.  The  agricultural  population  at 
the  former  period  was  16,500,000,  and  it  furnished  food  for 
8,500,000  persons  living  in  cities,  or  engaged  in  trade  or  manu- 
factures; at  this  time  22,000,000  of  agriculturists,  in  round 
numbers,  are  engaged  in  raising  food  for  11,000,000  persons 
engaged  in  pursuits  unconnected  with  the  productive  soil  — 
a  quarter  of  grain  being  the  average  consumption  of  a  human 
being  for  a  year.  This  is  leaving  92,000,000  acres  for  the  support 
of  horses,  and  for  raising  wood,  vines,  and  butcher-meat  for  the  use 
of  man.  If  we  suppose  that  30,000,000  of  the  76,000,000  arable 
acres  in  France  are  cultivated  in  potatoes,  each  acre  will  yield,  ac- 
cording to  M'CuUoch  (Commercial  Diet.,  art.  Potatoes),  food  for 
two  —  according  to  Arthur  Young  and  Newenham,  for  three  — 
individuals.  Take  it  at  the  lowest  estimate  of  two  individuals,  these 
30,000,000  acres  would  maintain  60,000,000  more  persons,  or  140,000,- 
000  in  all;  still  leaving  62,000,000  acres  for  luxuries,  roads,  canals, 
cattle,  horses,  etc.,  for  this  immense  population." 

^  Lest  exaggeration  be  seen  in  such  a  statement,  the  writer 
would  lay  the  following  figures  before  the  reader.  It  is  a  well- 
substantiated  fact  that  the  population  of  England  was  never  in 
excess  of  2,500,000,  and  was  often  less,  down  to  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  —  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  having  exterminated 
immense  numbers  of  men  who  were  only  slowly  replaced.  Assum- 
ing that  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  rest  of  the  British 


6  THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

contains  in  round  numbers  1,700  million  people  (and 
possibly  more),  and  that  by  the  end  of  the  present 
century,  should  the  present  rate  of  increase  be  main- 
tained, that  number  will  have  grown  to  some  4,000 
millions,  the  time  has  plainly  come  when  the  study 
of  vital   statistics   and   general   population-movements. 

Isles  contained  1,500,000  persons,  the  total  population  may  be  then 
set  at  4,000,000. 

At  the  present  moment  the  members  of  the  English  race  may 
be  reckoned  as  follows  —  accepting  as  "assimilated"  all  sub-races 
in  British  territory  such  as  the  French  in  Canada  and  the  Dutch  in 
South  Africa :  — 

(i)  British  Isles 45,000,000 

(2)  Canada          8,000,000 

(3)  Australasia 6,000,000 

(4)  South  Africa 1,500,000 

(5)  Britis     (white)    in    Asia,    in    Africa,    in 

Atlantic       islands       and       elsewhere 

scattered 1,500,000 

(6)  Descendants  of  Britons  in  United  States 

(American  estimates)         40,000,000 

Total 102,000,000 

We  know  that  in  1752  the  population  of  Ireland  was  2,373,000: 
in  1 841  it  had  grown  to  8,195,000,  or  nearly  a  four-fold  increase 
in  90  years.  The  Celtic  race  has  thus  proved  that  it  can  breed  much 
faster  than  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The  mixing  of  these  two  races  — 
making  what  may  be  called  in  a  non-political  sense  Britons  —  pro- 
duces  the   happiest   results. 

*  This  is  a  very  simple  but  justifiable  calculation.  It  may 
be  assumed  that  whites,  yellows,  browns,  and  blacks,  in  the 
aggregate,  now  increase  at  such  a  rate  that  the  world's  population 
doubles  every  70  years.  Thus  by  1980  the  earth  should  contain 
3,400  millions,  and  twenty  years  later  4,000  millions.  It  is  this 
vast  and  constant  growth  in  populations,  just  as  much  as  the  rise 
in  the  standard  of  living,  which  is  stimulating  commerce  and 
industry  so  remarkably.  From  now  on  the  trade  of  the  world 
should  increase  by  leaps  and  bounds. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  7 

instead  of  being  entombed  in  the  dull  pages  of 
reference-books,  should  be  accessible  to  all  in  readable 
forms. 

For  it  must  now  be  clear  to  every  thinking  man  that 
weight  of  numbers,  as  numbers  become  "drilled"  in- 
dustrially and  ethically,  as  well  as  in  a  military  sense, 
must  soon  play  a  much  greater  part  in  politics  than  here- 
tofore. It  is  this  eloquent  fact  which  already  impresses 
the  meanest  Englishman  when  he  thinks  of  Germany. 
Germany,  when  she  fought  France  forty  years  ago,  had 
only  a  slightly  larger  population  than  her  western 
neighbour;  to-day  she  has  25  millions  more;  in  less 
than  twenty  years  from  to-day  her  population  will  be 
80  millions,  or  twice  the  population  of  stationary 
France;  and  though  even  this  weight  of  numbers  may 
not  be  held  sufficient  to  overwhelm  a  country  justly 
celebrated  for  its  resisting  and  recuperative  powers,  there 
must  clearly  be  an  end  to  the  present  position  in  Central 
and  Western  Europe  when  the  disproportion  increases 
to   a   still   greater  extent. 

It  will  one  day  be  admitted  that  the  real  key  to  a 
thousand  vaguely-defined  problems  lies  in  men's  breed- 
ing capacity  —  in  their  capacity  to  obey  nature's 
most  imperative  political  law,  which  is  multiply  and 
increase,    or    die.     Over-population  ^    is    a    shibboleth 

^  Obviously  over-population  is  something  more  than  a  mere 
matter  of  numbers,  since  the  savage  requires  for  his  support  more 
square  miles  than  the  civiHsed  man  needs  acres,  and  an  industrial 
nation  can  prosper  in  a  land  that  produces  little  food  or  even  none 
at  all.  It  is  only  when  men  can  neither  raise  food  nor  buy 
it  that  they  must  move  on.  In  old  days  this  produced  migra- 
tions, or  mass-movements  by  land;  in  modern  days  emigrations 
or  stream-like  movements  over  sea.  Thus  in  very  recent  years 
we  have  had  two  remarkable  instances  of  great  streams  of  emi- 
gration   setting    in    and    then    drying    up.     The    first  and    capital 


8  THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

which  only  attracts  the  ignorant;  for  the  expression 
is  an  absurdity,  since  nature  will  not  allow  the  thing  to 
stand.  Yet  so  little  have  such  matters  been  understood 
in  the  past  that  even  that  celebrated  personage,  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson,  on  being  questioned  regarding  the 
future  of  Russia,  a  country  which  even  in  his  day  was 
mentioned  as  likely  to  become  a  great  empire  by  reason 
of  the  rapid  increase  of  its  population,  made  the  as- 
tounding reply  that  he  saw  no  prospect  of  the  Russians 
propagating  more  than  any  other  nation,  because  "  births 
at  all  times  bear  the  same  proportion  to  the  same 
number  of  people."  The  unwisdom  of  this  remark, 
made  in  a  day  when  the  science  of  statistics  had  not  yet 
been  conceived,  is  now  being  curiously  illustrated  all 
over  the  world;  but  nowhere  more  than  in  the  country 
in  question  —  Russia  —  where  the  breeding  of  men  is 
going  on  at  such  a  prodigious  rate  that,  in  the  end,  it 

instance,  of  course,  is  the  Irish  emigration  to  America  succeeding 
the  potato  famine  of  1848.  Accurate  statistics  show  that  between 
1851  and  1907  no  fewer  than  4,103,015  Irish  emigrated  abroad. 
The  second  and  more  interesting  instance  is  that  of  Germany. 
Two  generations  ago  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Germans  began  to 
stream  across  the  Atlantic  to  the  El  Dorado  of  the  United  States, 
until  it  looked  as  if  this  movement  would  Teutonise  the  American 
Republic.  But  no  sooner  had  the  good  effects  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War  become  apparent  than  the  movement  slackened. 
As  Germany's  industrialism,  from  the  'eighties  onwards,  grew  by 
leaps  and  bounds,  the  emigration  of  her  sons  fell  off  more  and  more, 
until  to-day  it  amounts  to  no  more  than  some  30,000  per  annum. 
It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  there  is  any  real  limit  to  den- 
sity of  population  in  industrial  countries.  In  agricultural  re- 
gions the  highest  density  is  about  1,200  persons  per  square 
mile.  This  has  been  attained  in  three  totally  different  regions  —  in 
the  West  Indian  island  of  Barbados;  in  Bengal;  and  in  the  Chengtu 
plain  in  the  Chinese  province  of  Szechuan.  Every  rood  may  yet 
have  its  man  I 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  9 

must  modify  the  entire  European  situation  far  more 
than  the  German  increase  can  ever  do.^ 

Yet  though  statistics  have  now  been  generally  avail- 
able for  a  number  of  decades  and  their  philosophy 
accessible  to  every  student,  it  is  significant  that  even 
Professor  Charles  H.  Pearson  in  that  informing  work 
National  Life  and  Character  ^  —  in  which  problems  very 
similar  to  the  present  ones  are  considered  —  makes  much 
of  the   fact   that   according  to   Gibbon   the   estimated 

*  The  Russian  birth-rate  is  to-day  such  that,  were  infant  mor- 
tahty  only  brought  as  low  as  it  is  now  in  England,  the  white 
world  might  soon  become  all  Cossack  —  as  Napoleon  predicted. 
The  net  yearly  increase  of  the  population  of  the  Russian  Empire 
is  now  more  than  2,500,000;  and  as  great  masses  of  vigorous 
men  and  women  are  pushed  across  the  Ural  into  Siberia,  there  to 
thrive  exceedingly,  the  birth-rate  tends  to  expand  still  more.  The 
writer  was  once  given  some  remarkable  figures  regarding  this 
Siberian  birth-rate,  which  he  hesitates  to  publish  in  the  lack 
of  independent  confirmation;  but  the  fact  remains  that  by  the 
end  of  the  present  century  there  should  be  400,000,000  Russians ! 
Even  this  immense  figure  will  only  mean  a  density  of  population 
equal  to  50  persons  per  square  mile  of  territory. 

^  Professor  Pearson's  main  argument  appears  in  his  Introduc- 
tion, viz. : — 

"What  we  are  most  concerned  with  is  not  the  limitation  of 
the  higher  races  of  man  to  a  small  part  of  the  earth;  not  the 
evolution  of  a  new  form  of  society  —  an  autocratic  and  all- 
pervading  State,  instead  of  a  State  that  gave  free  scope  to  in- 
dividual ascendency  —  but  the  question,  what  man  himself  will  be- 
come under  these  changed  conditions  of  political  life,  and  under  the 
influence  of  other  changes  that  seem  inevitable." 

The  conclusions  which  Professor  Pearson  reaches  are  very 
pessimistic  regarding  the  prospects  of  the  white  races.  These 
the  writer  deals  with  in  his  own  final  chapter.  It  would  seem  that 
Professor  Pearson  gave  too  much  weight  in  many  parts  of  his  inquiry 
to  assumptions  which  are  the  assumptions  of  classical  scholars  and 
not  those  of  men  pursuing  their  inquiries  from  a  purely  politico- 
scientific  standpoint.  Already  much  that  he  wrote  is  hopelessly 
out  of  date. 


10         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

number  of  subjects  in  all  parts  of  the  Roman  Empire  at 
the  time  of  Claudius  was  120,000,000;  and  that  when 
he  wrote  his  own  work  the  countries  included  in  the 
old  empire  could  only  claim  some  200,000,000  souls, 
thereby  tending  to  show  that  the  passage  of  nearly  a 
score  of  centuries  had  brought  no  great  change.  As 
an  index  to  the  future,  however,  such  a  method  of 
comparison  is  both  extremely  faulty  and  deceptive,  and 
is  calculated  to  produce  on  the  mind  of  the  reader  an 
entirely  erroneous  impression. 

For  it  should  surely  be  noted  that  during  a  very 
long  period  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  the 
whole  of  Europe  was  in  what  may  be  called  a  state  of 
solution,  during  which  a  "Law  of  Waste"  certainly 
seemed  in  active  operation.  The  iron  Roman  rule  had 
been  replaced  by  open  lawlessness  and  anarchy,  in  which 
statistics  have  no  place  at  all;  and  though  with  the 
gradual  taming  of  the  northern  barbarians  secular 
States  arose,  for  a  thousand  years  there  was  scarcely  any 
peace  from  private  wars,  and  save  in  fortified  cities  the 
common  man  remained  unprotected  until  power  was 
gradually  centralised  in  the  persons  of  monarchs,  and 
strong  military  kingdoms  arose.  It  is  therefore  only 
right  to  treat  the  entire  period  from  the  dissolution  of 
the  Roman  Empire  to  the  Renaissance  and  the  discovery 
of  America  as  one  of  no  statistical  importance  —  as  a 
species  of  interregnum  during  which  the  materials  for 

^  The  territories  included  in  the  Roman  Empire  had  at  the 
time  Professor  Pearson  wrote  his  work  the  following  popula- 
tions:—  Italy,  29,000,000;  France,  37,000,000;  Great  Britain, 
33,000,000;  Spain  and  Portugal,  21,000,000;  Turkey  in  Europe, 
15,500,000;  Hungary,  Dalmatia,  and  Bosnia,  17,250,000;  Turkey 
in  Asia,  16,000,000;  North  Africa,  14,000,000;  total,  about 
202,000,000  people. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  11 

the  foundations  of  modern  Europe  were  being  slowly 
assembled,  assorted  and  hammered  into  their  required 
shape.  Ten  or  twelve  centuries  are  perhaps  a  somewhat 
long  period  to  treat  in  such  cavalier  fashion;  yet  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  modern  statistician  it  is  impossible 
to  consider  them  otherwise. 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  even  after  the  founda- 
tions of  modern  Europe  had  been  securely  laid  —  that  is, 
after  the  historic  landmark  of  the  year  1492  —  brutal 
misgovernment,  savage  warfare  and  unchecked  pesti- 
lence successfully  foiled  nature,  until  the  vast  explosions 
which  celebrated  the  French  Revolution  throughout 
Europe  had  finally  cleared  the  air.  The  downfall  of 
Napoleon  and  the  political  settlement  of  18 15  may  thus 
be  said  to  mark  the  period  when  the  value  of  statistics 
becomes  thoroughly  appreciable.  It  is  not  unwise  to 
suppose  that  in  18 15  the  territories  included  in  the 
most  glorious  period  of  the  Roman  Empire  contained 
a  population  almost  exactly  equal  to  Gibbon's  estimate. 
Thus  in  the  last  ninety-five  years,  in  spite  of  the  quasi- 
stationary  condition  of  France,  and  in  some  degree  of 

*  Few  people  realise  in  these  peaceful,  humane,  and  well- 
ordered  days,  what  sickness  and  strife  once  meant  to  Christian 
nations.  It  is  customary  to  point  to  the  terrible  Taiping  Rebel- 
lion in  China  —  in  which  loo  million  people  perished  —  as  if  it 
were  a  strange  visitation  of  Providence.  Such  visitations  were  all 
too  common  in  mediaeval  Europe,  and  even  later.  Leaving  aside 
such  plagues  as  the  "  Black  Death,"  when  the  population  of  Eng- 
land seemed  menaced  with  extinction,  and  turning  to  wars,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  quote  the  capital  instance  of  the  ruin  left  in 
Europe  by  the  Thirty  Years'  War  —  it  cost  Germany  four-fifths  of 
its  population.  Thus  Wiirtemberg,  which  before  the  war  had 
half-a-million  people,  was  reduced  after  the  battle  of  Nordlingen 
to  46,000.  Similarly  in  England  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  not  only 
ruined  the  country,  but  arrested  its  growth  for  at  least  a  century. 


12         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

European  Turkey  and  Spain  during  a  portion  of  that 
period,  it  may  be  calculated  that  those  numbers  have 
approximately  doubled.  This  gives  the  view  which  is 
valuable  to-day.  Whilst  it  is  not  necessary  in  this  place 
to  deal  with  figures  relating  to  other  regions  of  the 
world,  it  is  quite  certain  that  elsewhere  during  the 
nineteenth  century  the  net  gain  in  population  has  been 
even  heavier  than  in  the  case  of  Europe.  For  purposes 
of  comparison  it  is  now  generally  assumed  that  blacks 
double  their  numbers  in  forty  years;  browns  and 
yellows  in  sixty  years;  and  whites  in  eighty  years. 

When  we  consider  the  other  part  of  the  great 
movement  now  going  on  —  the  almost  universal  growth 
of  real  knowledge  ^  as  opposed  to  knowledge  largely 

^.  .  .  "In  a  great  and  comprehensive  view,  the  changes  in 
every  civilised  people  are,  in  their  aggregate,  dependent  solely  on 
three  things:  first,  on  the  amount  of  knowledge  possessed  by  their 
ablest  men;  secondly,  on  the  direction  which  that  knowledge 
takes,  that  is  to  say,  the  sort  of  subjects  to  which  it  refers; 
thirdly,  and  above  all,  on  the  extent  to  which  the  knowledge 
is  diffused,  and  the  freedom  with  which  it  pervades  all  classes  of 
society. 

"These  are  the  three  great  movers  of  every  civilised  country; 
and  although  their  operation  is  frequently  disturbed  by  the  vices 
or  the  virtues  of  powerful  individuals,  such  moral  feelings  correct 
each  other,  and  the  average  of  long  periods  remains  unaffected. 
Owing  to  causes  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  the  moral  qualities  do, 
no  doubt,  constantly  vary;  so  that  in  one  man,  or  perhaps  even  in 
one  generation,  there  will  be  an  excess  of  good  intentions,  in  an- 
other an  excess  of  bad  ones.  But  we  have  no  reason  to  think  that 
any  permanent  change  has  been  effected  in  the  proportion  which 
those  who  naturally  possess  good  intentions  bear  to  those  in 
whom  bad  ones  seem  to  be  inherent.  In  what  may  be  called  the 
innate  and  original  morals  of  mankind,  there  is,  as  far  as  we  are 
aware,  no  progress.  Of  the  different  passions  with  which  we  are 
born,  some  are  more  prevalent  at  one  time,  some  at  another;  but 
experience  teaches  us  that,  as  they  are  always   antagonistic,  they 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  13 

based  on  tradition  and  superstition  and  generally  incul- 
cated by  priests  —  we  come  to  what  is  by  far  the  most 
remarkable  feature  in  the  whole  history  of  the  last 
decades  in  Asia,  in  America,  and  in  portions  of 
Africa,  as  well  as  in  Europe  itself.  Knowledge  —  real 
knowledge  —  has  been  lately  diffused  with  marvellous 
rapidity,  and  darkness  is  everywhere  giving  way  to 
light. ^     Yet  though   this  is  so,  the  world-influence  of 

are  held  in  balance  by  the  force  of  their  own  opposition.  The 
activity  of  one  motive  is  corrected  by  the  activity  of  another. 
For  to  every  vice  there  is  a  corresponding  virtue.  Cruelty  is 
counteracted  by  benevolence;  sympathy  is  excited  by  suffering; 
the  injustice  of  some  provokes  the  charity  of  others;  new  evils  are 
met  by  new  remedies,  and  even  the  most  enormous  offences  that 
have  ever  been  known  have  left  behind  them  no  permanent  impres- 
sion. The  desolation  of  countries  and  the  slaughter  of  men  are 
losses  which  never  fail  to  be  repaired,  and  at  the  distance  of 
a  few  centuries  every  vestige  of  them  is  effaced.  The  gigantic 
crimes  of  Alexander  or  Napoleon  become  after  a  time  void  of 
effect,  and  the  affairs  of  the  world  return  to  their  former  level. 
This  is  the  ebb  and  flow  of  history,  the  perpetual  flux  to  which  by 
the  laws  of  our  nature  we  are  subject."  —  Buckle :  History  of  Civili- 
zation, Chap.  IV. 

^  Accepting  the  gospel  which  Buckle  preached  in  his  History  of 
Civilization,  that  civilisation  and  culture  first  arose  where  climate 
and  soil  easiest  permitted  the  growth  of  wealth  —  Egypt,  Babylonia; 
that  it  was  transferred  from  there  to  the  Mediterranean  basin,  and 
then  on  to  Central  and  Northern  Europe;  that  here  the  vigour  of 
man  exceeding  the  vigour  of  nature,  it  was  permitted  him  to  be- 
come a  true  master  and  advance  farther  than  had  been  possible  in 
any  other  region  —  accepting  this,  surely  it  is  an  interesting  spec- 
tacle that  is  now  unrolled. 

For  what  do  we  now  see  ?  Not  only  are  the  literate  classes  in 
Asia  and  Africa  devouring  Herbert  Spencer,  Hegel,  and  John  Stuart 
Mill,  but  all  the  mechanical  inventions  of  the  West  are  being  studied 
and  applied,  whilst  in  their  leisure  moments  the  sons  of  the 
East  ponder  over  the  works  of  the  great  European  masters 
of  comedy    and    pathos.     Thus    the    East    is    on    the    highway    to 


14         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

this  new  growth,  and  its  really  vast  significance  are  still 
so  utterly  unappreciated  that  the  political  and  social 
unrest  which  this  new  knowledge  necessarily  brings  in 
its  train  (in  China  and  India,  just  as  much  as  in  Portugal 
and  Spain)  is  attributed  to  the  masses  becoming  infected 
with  anarchistic  ideas  —  that  is,  to  their  blind  devotion 
to  destructive  and  not  to  constructive  principles  — 
whereas,  if  the  truth  be  known,  so  far  from  such  being 
a  true  statement  of  the  case,  since  masses  no  more  than 
individuals  do  not  willingly  court  destruction,  this 
commotion  is  merely  the  sign  that  knowledge  —  with  its 
accompanying  conviction  that  political  salvation  lies 
within  the  grasp  of  all  —  is  reaching  the  most  widely- 
separated  peoples,  and  therefore  forcing  them  to  refuse 
to  accept  government  by  a  sort  of  half-hearted  compro- 
mise with  old-time  superstition  and  bigotry.  Though 
the  masses  may  take  no  active  part,  they  undoubtedly 
look  to-day  with  secret  approval  on  the  actions  of 
extremists  in  all  lands  who  by  the  cruel  use  of  high 
explosives  blast  away  political  anachronisms.  They 
know,  with  the  instinctive  knowledge  of  the  populace, 

real  progress,  whilst  the  West  seems  unwilling  to  admit  that 
any  further  progress  is  possible.  The  great  American  inventor, 
Mr  Edison,  picturesquely  designated  by  the  daily  Press  as  a 
wizard  because  he  is  wise,  has  quite  recently  been  tempted  to 
state  that  man  has  only  just  progressed  beyond  the  dog-stage,  and 
that  during  the  next  few  hundred  years,  as  he  discovers  the  mean- 
ing of  nature's  laws  and  forces,  he  may  enter  into  the  pos- 
session of  true  knowledge,  and  become  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  words  a  higher  animal.  It  would  be  well  if  those  who 
still  look  upon  the  acquirement  of  a  mediocre  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage and  literature  of  two  ancient  peoples  as  a  complete  edu- 
cation in  itself  could  be  made  to  ponder  over  this,  and  understand 
that  their  ideal  is  exactly  similar  to  the  old,  and  now  discredited, 
Chinese  ideal  —  the  learning  by  heart  of  Confucian  classics  and  a 
proficiency  in  the  wooden  four-legged  essay. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  15 

that  changes  must  now  come;  and  knowing  this  makes 
them  applaud  the  use  of  the  world's  greatest  lever  —  the 
lever  of  fear. 

Now,  in  the  last  analysis,  it  is  due  to  science,  and  to 
the  spread  of  scientific  thought  throughout  the  world, 
that  such  phenomenal  progress  has  lately  been  made  in 
ethical  and  general  principles,  as  well  as  in  material 
development.  The  ferment  of  to-day  is  then  due  to 
the  spread  of  truth  —  since  science  is  only  truth  system- 
atised  —  and  the  utter  distaste  which  all  quietist  views 
now  inspire  actually  makes  for  the  increasing  happiness 
of  the  entire  human  race.  No  longer  will  men,  no 
matter  of  what  colour  they  may  be,  believe  in  the  old 
superstitious  beliefs :  no  longer  will  they  bow  down  to 
authority  spiritual  or  temporal  because  it  is  authority.^ 
They  demand,  and  quite  rightly  do  they  demand,  that 
such  monkish  —  nay,  slavish  —  ideas  be  shattered,  and 
that  henceforth  mankind  be  governed  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible on  scientific  principles.  And  it  is  highly  significant 
that  with  this  change  should  come  a  distaste  for  all 
creeds,  and  an  increasing  behef  in  the  suflSciency  of 
what  may  be  called  Instinctive  Morality. 

^  In  this  connection,  it  certainly  seems  doubtful  whether  the 
lead  which  Europe  obtained  over  Asia  several  centuries  ago  will 
be  permanently  maintained  —  unless  the  habit  of  attempting  to 
reconcile  antiquated  superstitious  beliefs  with  scientific  dicta  is 
abandoned.  Already  it  can  be  noted  in  certain  directions  that 
the  Japanese  —  though  accused  foolishly  in  some  quarters  of 
"  materialism,"  whatever  that  may  mean  —  are  beginning  to  possess 
a  distinct  advantage,  insomuch  as  they  do  not  have  to  place  on  the 
same  basis  the  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  such  exact  mathe- 
matical theories,  as  for  instance,  the  parallelogram  of  forces. 
Before  we  laugh  at  highly-educated  Hindoos  and  Chinese  return- 
ing to  their  native  lands  and  prostrating  themselves  before  false  gods, 
let  us  know  whether  our  own  are  true. 


16         THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

Yet  although  in  Europe  thinking  men  begin  to 
recognise  that  at  last  the  downfall  of  dogma  has  come; 
and  although  there  is  much  talk  of  the  religion  of  the 
future  as  a  faith  which  will  not  be  racial  or  tribal,  nor 
yet  based  on  authority  either  spiritual  or  temporal  —  in 
spite  of  this  admission  the  rapid  spread  of  scientific 
knowledge  still  finds  the  vast  majority  among  the  white 
races  nominally  committed  to  practices  —  from  which 
are  spawned  prejudices  —  which  should  be  as  distasteful 
to  a  really  enlightened  mankind  as  are  the  crude  rites  of 
some  sects  of  Chinese  Buddhists  or  the  unintelligible 
rhapsodies  of  the  mystery-worshipping  Taoists.^  Pro- 
gress is  in  the  air;  superstition  is  no  longer  believed 
in;  men  are  everywhere  discontented;  yet  the  old 
structures  have  been  standing  so  long  that  the  work  of 
removing  them  can  only  be  carried  out  slowly  after  the 
lapse  of  the  very  longest  periods.  Thus  knowledge, 
though  it  has  now  admittedly  spread  far  and  wide, 
though  it  has  accomplished  much,  has  still  an  infinity 
of  tasks  to  attend  to;  and  many  thousand  suns  must 
set  before  the  work  of  political  renovation  is  reasonably 
complete  even  in  Europe.  And  this  fact  —  this  stout 
survival  of  prejudice  —  will  have,  as  will  be  shown,  a 

^  That  such  remarks  will  sound  offensive  in  the  ears  of  many 
readers  the  writer  well  believes,  but  it  is  impossible  here  to  refrain 
from  expressing  an  opinion  which  will  one  day  be  very  general.  No 
one  indeed  who  has  pursued  studies  with  a  reasonably  open  mind 
can  escape  the  belief  that  the  vast  and  curious  fabric  which  has  been 
raised  in  Europe  since  Christianity  received  the  official  sanction  of 
Rome,  is  not  a  whit  more  worthy  of  receiving  blind  homage  to-day 
than  those  other  fabrics  raised  by  other  priesthoods  in  other  regions 
of  the  world.  All  are  doubtless  excellent  in  their  way  as  examples 
of  human  ingenuity  and  credulity  —  but  they  have  nothing  much 
more  to  recommend  them.  With  moral  codes  the  writer  is  not  here 
concerned. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  17 

most  important  general  bearing  on  all  political  problems 
for  many  decades. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  in  Asia  this  spread  of 
knowledge  —  this  conviction  that  humanity  at  last 
imperatively  demands  a  new  orientation  of  old-as-the- 
world  facts  —  is  proceeding  slowly  and  cannot  be  very 
much  hastened;  and  this  because  of  a  circumstance 
which  is  something  of  a  paradox.  In  Asia  men  have 
always  been  so  close  to  nature  that  they  have  been 
crushed  by  her  and  have  feared  her  greatly;  and  in 
their  past  ignorance  they  have  found  their  sole  relief  in 
raising  up  countless  idols  to  intercede  on  their  behalf, 
and  so  to  reduce  the  horrors  which  the  uncertainty  of 
an  ever-present  menace  has  seemed  to  lend  to  existence. 
The  enervating  climate  which  prevails  in  so  great  a 
part  of  this  huge  continent;  the  unequal  seasons;  the 
devastating  floods;  the  famines;  the  great  dreary 
distances  which  make  men  mad  —  all  these  things  taught 
men  thousands  of  years  ago  greatly  to  distrust  them- 
selves and  their  own  limited  powers,  and  to  look  with 
terror  on  this  great  chastising  mother,  whose  vengeance, 
to  their  ignorant  minds,  knew  no  limits  and  could 
swallow  up  in  a  night  what  it  had  taken  ten  generations 
to  evolve.  Climate  and  environment  affect  man  in  his 
first  stages  of  development  far  more  greatly  than  they  can 
aff'ect  the  lower  animals;  for  man  possesses  imagination. 
And  so,  no  matter  how  much  the  inventions  of  a  scien- 
tific age  may  be  called  into  play  to  reinforce  tropical 
peoples  in  their  everlasting  combat  with  the  exuberance 
of  nature,  in  Asia  very  many  decades  must  elapse 
before  worn-out  beliefs  can  be  even  partially  aban- 
doned. Still,  the  progress  which  has  been  made 
during  the   last  two   generations   is   remarkable   from 


18         THE  CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

many  points  of  view;  and  what  has  been  already 
accomplished  is  destined  to  be  entirely  eclipsed  in  the 
near  future.  Education  can  eflFect  greater  miracles  than 
the  whole  Bible  records;  and  when  Asia  is  as  universally 
educated  as  Europe  is  to-day,  it  will  be  time  to  know 
that  almost  every  old  assumption  regarding  this  great 
region  must  be  modified.  Gulfs  which  seemed  un- 
bridgable  will  have  been  quietly  bridged  overnight; 
and  thus  will  it  come  about  that  the  dawn  will  find 
those  who  have  not  prepared  themselves  for  such 
changes  unable  to  adjust  their  views  and  still  weakly 
talking  of  conspiracies  and  revolutions,  when  what  they 
are  witnessing  will  be  nothing  but  the  natural  evolution 
of  the  human  race. 

And  yet  that  this  strange  state  of  aflPairs  should  exist 
is  not  surprising.  Europe  has  always  been  ready  to 
adopt  the  narrowest  views  in  all  matters  concerning  the 
history  of  its  relations  with  Asia  and  Africa ;  and  as  the 
years  go  by,  and  rationalism  unconsciously  spreads  its 
gospel  of  commonsense,  it  becomes  increasingly  evident 
even  to  humble  men  that  the  rigidly  conventional,  or 
orthodox,  manner  of  viewing  world-history,  and  espe- 
cially this  history  of  the  relations  of  Europe  with  Asia 
and  Africa,  and  the  development  of  the  nations  which 
has  sprung  therefrom,  will  have  to  be  abandoned.  A 
strictly  objective  standpoint  must  be  substituted  for  the 
old-time  subjective  method,  which  is  excusable  only 
in  unenlightened  peoples.  Already  those,  who  from 
the  accident  of  residence  in  very  distant  regions,  and 
their  consequent  detachment  from  old  mental  restraints, 
have  seen  how  vast  political  problems,  even  in  these 
artificial  days,  tend  to  work  out  by  the  play  of  what  may 
be  called  natural  forces,  and  not  by  any  high-sounding 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  19 

decrees  of  rulers  or  any  spasmodic  interference  by  other 
men  —  among  these,  something  closely  akin  to  amaze- 
ment must  inevitably  manifest  itself  whenever  a  close 
comparison  is  made  between  the  political  estimate  based 
on  actual  experience  —  that  is,  the  true  estimate  —  and 
the  conventional  estimate  which  is  spread  broadcast  and 
believed  in  by  the  outer  world  because  it  suits  old  pre- 
judices and  is  founded  on  vanity.  Thus  the  historical 
importance  which  is  to-day  still  attached  —  to  the 
exclusion  of  really  weighty  matters  —  to  insignificant 
feuds  between  the  Greeks  and  the  Persians  in  the 
pre-Christian  era,  as  well  as  to  the  history  connected 
with  the  rise  of  Rome  (when  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean were  merely  playing  the  part  of  a  cradle  of 
civilisation,  just  as  much  for  the  Middle  East  as  for  the 
Middle  West),  is  specially  remarkable.  It  gives  the 
keynote  to  that  false  manner  of  viewing  history,  and 
especially  the  history  of  the  rise  of  Europe,  which  so 
greatly  obscures  the  paramount  and  decisive  racial 
influences,  and  which  ignores  vital  factors  that  are 
to-day  still  powerfully  operative.  The  history  of 
the  Mediterranean  basin  2000  years  ago  is  not  the 
entire  history  of  the  civiHsation  of  that  time,  as  some 
seem  to  think.  Confucius  had  been  teaching  for  many 
years  before  Athens  and  Sparta  were  even  mud  vil- 
lages; and  in  those  early  days  the  diff^erence  between 
the  Mediterranean  races  and  the  so-called  Orientals 
of  the  Nearer  East  was  so  small  that  it  needed  political 
rivalries  to  keep  them  asunder  and  to  prevent  the  types 
from  fusing.  Nothing  occurred  during  this  period 
which,  had  it  happened  differently,  would  have  changed 
the  destinies  of  Europe. 

Yet  those  who  gain  their  historical  inspiration  from 


20         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

such  politically  misleading  works  as  Creasy's  Decisive 
Battles  of  the  World  no  doubt  still  believe  in  some  dull 
way  that  Marathon,  in  which  the  loss  of  the  Athenians 
amounted  to  192  men,  actually  saved  Europe  from 
Asia.  Indeed,  this  statement  is  made  in  many  most 
serious  treatises.  Marathon,  according  to  the  ingenuous 
class  of  investigators  who  still  are  the  teachers  of  the 
youth  of  Europe,  was  a  contest  in  which  "the  noblest 
of  causes  was  at  stake  and  the  interest  of  the  world's 
history  hung  trembling  in  the  balance.  Oriental  des- 
potism was  on  one  side,  a  world  united  under  one 
sovereign  lord,  the  world  of  Asiatics  whose  prayer  and 
ideal  was  a  good  master.  On  the  other  was  the  Greek, 
the  Athenian,  whose  interest  bade  him  cry:  *No 
master !  Liberty  at  any  price  is  itself  the  highest 
good.'  "  ^ 

When  the  minds  of  reasonably  intelligent  youths  are 
still  fed  on  such  stuff,  it  may  be  counted  small  wonder 
that,  in  spite  of  the  vast  spread  of  knowledge  in  Europe 
during  the  nineteenth  century,  Asia  of  the  twentieth 
century  should  still  be  so  misjudged,  the  politics  of  that 
region  so  misapprehended,  and  bigotry  and  prejudice 
still  so  much  to  the  fore.  Such  statements  as  the 
one  quoted  —  besides  ignoring  the  vital  fact  that  in  the 
formative  period  of  the  white  races  single  contests 
could  have  no  abiding  results  —  start  with  an  untrue 
assumption,  and  can  therefore  only  be  false  in  other 
particulars.  For  Hberty,  as  it  was  understood  in  those 
too-celebrated  republics  of  Athens  and  Sparta,  meant 
abject  slavery  to  the  vast  mass  of  the  population  — 
slavery  every  whit  as  cruel  as  any  in  the  Southern 
States  of  America  Union  before  the  War  of  Liberation; 

*  This  passage  is  extracted  from  a  reputable  English  history. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  21 

and  what  the  Athenians  were  continually  and  des- 
perately fighting  for  in  all  their  political  contests  was 
nothing  better  than  the  aristocratic  principle.  In 
neither  of  these  two  republics  did  the  freemen  ever 
exceed  twenty  thousand,  whilst  the  slaves  ran  into 
hundreds  of  thousands,  and  were  used  just  as  the  slaves 
of  Asiatics  were  used.  Thus  the  Greek  republics  were 
simply  cities  in  which  a  certain  portion  of  the  inhab- 
itants, little  qualified  to  exercise  them,  had  acquired 
exclusive  privileges,  while  they  kept  the  great  body  of 
their  brethren  in  a  state  of  abject  servitude.^  Even  the 
philosophers  of  this  high  antiquity,  in  their  speculations 
concerning  the  perfect  republic,  could  not  extend  their 
ideas  beyond  a  small  territory  ruled  by  a  single  city,  in 
which  the  great  body  of  the  people  had  no  rights  at  all. 
Their  very  intellectualism  was  thus  an  exotic  growth, 
and  forced  to  bloom  as  in  a  hot-house.  The  cramping 
influences  which  this  narrow  intellectuaHsm  has  exerted 
in  certain  ways  on  the  European  mind  is  to-day  as 
evident  as  it  was  hundreds  of  years  ago:  and  the  at- 
tention still  given  to  the  insignificant  history  of  these 
peoples  is  the  final  proof  that  rationalism  has  still  many 
victories  to  win.  Marathon  and  Salamis  were  of  no 
more  real  consequence  to  Europe  than  were  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  to  India,  Persia,  and  the  Near 
East  generally.  He  who  sees  in  such  romantic  history 
a  subject  of  world-influence  knows  little  of  the  laws  of 
causation. 

*  In  these  passages  the  writer  has  followed  very  closely  what 
Alison  has  written  in  the  introductory  chapter  to  his  History  of  Europe, 
the  subject  being  of  no  real  importance  to  political  students,  and 
being  here  referred  to  only  in  order  to  deal  chronologically  with  Euro- 
pean matters. 


22         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

The  truth  is  that  no  wars  or  military  expeditions  — ■ 
that  is,  no  wars  which  are  not  true  Volkskriege^  when 
nations,  obeying  irresistible  impulses,  sweep  down  on 
their  neighbours  like  tidal  waves  —  can  compare  in 
political  importance  with  nature's  most  simple  functions, 
the  bearing  of  men  and  their  resultant  distribution  by 
the  operation  of  definite  laws.  It  is  a  fact,  which  any- 
one may  verify  for  himself,  that  the  temporary  dis- 
placement of  any  body  of  armed  men,  however  vast, 
in  obedience  to  the  iron  will  of  a  despot,  is  of  scant 
racial  importance  when  behind  it  lies  no  natural  move- 
ment. Thus,  even  had  Darius  triumphed  over  Athens 
with  his  heterogeneous  army  drawn  from  forty  nations 
and  then  formed  military  colonies  all  over  Greece, 
such  colonies  could  have  had  no  more  lasting  effect 
in  an  era  when  the  migration  of  races  was  still  actively 
proceeding  than  did  the  Roman  military  colonies  in 
England  —  colonies  which  have  affected  the  char- 
acter and  institutions  of  England  not  at  all.  In  other 
words  military  dominion,  even  when  backed  up  by 
large  numbers  of  males  of  the  conquering  race,  was 
always  of  scant  political  importance  in  early  and 
primitive  times,  when  intercommunication  was  difficult, 
and,  above  all,  when  populations  were  thinly  distributed 
and  still  in  what  may  be  called  the  formative  state.  As 
a  matter  of  course  assimilation  had  ultimately  to  follow, 
for  the  women  captured  the  captors.  This  is  exactly 
what  has  occurred  with  the  Chinese  in  their  four 
thousand  years  of  authentic  history.  By  the  simple 
process  of  inbreeding  they  have  virtually  obliterated 
all  traces  of  their  many  conquerors.  What  has  been 
done  in  the  past  by  the  Chinese  is  going  on  elsewhere 
to-day,  just  as  it  has   done  in  the   past,  thus  giving 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  23 

predominance  to  the  more  numerous  race  by  steadily 
obliterating  the  trace  of  ephemeral  victories. 

The  reason,  then,  why  true  European  history  —  the 
history  that  is  of  paramount  importance  to  the  living, 
throbbing  world  of  to-day  —  should  be  held  to  com- 
mence only  with  the  last  stages  of  the  Roman  Empire  — 
with  the  break-up  of  that  empire  —  is  not  only  because 
of  the  evolution  of  the  new  idea  of  citizenship  which  then 
commenced,  nor  yet  because  of  the  rise  of  Christianity 
which  destroyed  Graeco-Orientalism  with  the  Slavish 
ideas;  but  also  because  of  the  peopling  of  the  whole  of 
Europe  with  those  vigorous  barbarian  races  destined  to 
establish  Europe's  true  hegemony  over  the  rest  of  the 
world.  That  fact  should  be  seized  upon  and  rejoiced 
over  to-day  by  everyone.  With  these  barbarian  races 
came  the  beginning  of  true  or  rational  government, 
and  therefore  the  beginning  of  a  true  human  happiness 
founded  on  what  may  be  called  a  natural  equity.  At 
last  that  strange  formative  period  of  Eurasia  —  during 
which  races,  impelled  by  forces  over  which  no  mere 
monarchs  or  ideas  had  exercised  control,  had  wandered 
from  one  land  to  another  —  was  at  an  end,  and  the 
successive  waves  of  migration  had  finally  spent  their 
force.  Because  Roman  and  Greek  ideals  have  played 
such  a  role  in  the  formation  of  European  society,  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  real  strength  and  groundwork  of 
that  society  should  not  be  generally  admitted.  That 
strength  and  groundwork  are  summed  up  in  the  words, 

^  This  is  what  is  going  on  to-day  in  the  more  tropical  portions 
of  Latin  America,  where  the  autochthonous  (Indian)  races  are 
steadily  assimilating  the  descendants  of  the  Spanish  conquerors, 
thus  producing  a  new  type.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  in  a  few  hun- 
dred years  most  of  Latin  America  will  be  entirely  dominated  by  this 
type. 


24         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

Northern  Barbarianism.  The  peculiar  institutions 
which  have  arisen  in  Europe  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
this  dominant,  powerful  barbarianism,  as  it  was  brought 
in  contact  with  the  refinement  of  existing  civilisations, 
was  necessarily  eclectic  and  chose  that  which  seemed 
best,  irrespective  of  origins.  Only  in  the  matter  of 
liberty  did  the  northern  peoples  retain  their  essential 
characteristic;  and  this  is  the  seed  from  which  has 
sprung  the  modern   tree   of  life. 

^  "The  system  of  force,  that  is  to  say,  of  personal  liberty,  was  at 
the  bottom  of  the  social  state  of  the  Germans.  Through  this  it  was 
that  their  influence  became  so  powerful  upon  the  modern  world. 
Very  general  expressions  border  always  so  nearly  upon  inac- 
curacy, that  I  do  not  like  to  use  them.  Nevertheless,  were  it 
absolutely  necessary  to  express  in  few  words  the  predominating  char- 
acters of  the  various  elements  of  our  civilisation,  I  should  say, 
that  the  spirit  of  legality,  of  regular  association,  came  to  us  from 
the  Roman  world,  from  the  Roman  municipalities  and  laws.  It 
is  to  Christianity,  to  the  religious  society  that  we  owe  the  spirit  of 
morality,  the  sentiment  and  empire  of  rule,  of  a  moral  law,  of  the 
mutual  duties  of  men.  The  Germans  conferred  upon  us  the 
spirit  of  liberty,  of  liberty  such  as  we  conceive  of,  and  are 
acquainted  with  it,  in  the  present  day,  as  the  right  and  property  of 
each  individual,  master  of  himself,  of  his  actions,  and  of  his  fate, 
so  long  as  he  injures  no  other  individual.  This  is  a  fact  of 
universal  importance,  for  it  was  unknown  to  all  preceding  civilisa- 
tions: in  the  ancient  republics,  the  public  power  disposed  all 
things;  the  individual  was  sacrificed  to  the  citizen.  In  the 
societies  where  the  religious  principle  predominated,  the  believer 
belonged  to  his  God,  not  to  himself.  Thus,  man  hitherto  had 
always  been  absorbed  in  the  Church  or  in  the  State.  In  modern 
Europe,  alone,  has  he  existed  and  developed  himself  on  his  own  ac- 
count and  in  his  own  way,  charged,  no  doubt,  charged  con- 
tinually, more  and  more  heavily  with  toils  and  duties,  but  finding 
in  himself  his  aim  and  his  right.  It  is  to  German  manners  that 
we  must  trace  this  distinguishing  characteristic  of  our  civilisation. 
The  fundamental  idea  of  liberty,  in  modern  Europe,  came  to 
it  from  its  conquerors."  —  Guizot :  History  of  Civilization  in  Francey 
Eighth  Lecture. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  25 

For  though  the  privilege  of  citizenship  had  been 
nominally  given  to  the  whole  Roman  Empire  by  the 
Emperor  Antoninus,  in  the  very  last  stages  of  the 
Empire  slavery  not  only  existed  on  a  vast  scale  but  was 
constantly  spreading,  and  therefore  disturbing  that  most 
vital  matter  in  the  early  history  of  all  States  —  the 
question  of  food-supplies.  The  immense  quantities  of 
food  raised  by  slaves  in  North  Africa  and  poured  into 
the  Italian  provinces  had  alone  so  disturbed  economic 
conditions  that  the  whole  Roman  political  system  had 
been  completely  undermined  long  before  it  was  actually 
thrown  down;  and  no  matter  how  much  it  may  still  be 
eulogised  as  an  unique  polity  in  the  world's  history,  the 
Roman  imperial  idea  was  undoubtedly  nothing  but  an 
Oriental  idea.  In  spite  of  the  polite  fiction  of  citizen- 
ship, the  destinies  of  scores  of  millions  were  effectively 
disposed  of  by  a  few  thousands. 

*  Even  Professor  Pearson,  who  cannot  be  accused  of  any 
narrowness,  unconsciously  shows  in  the  following  passage  how 
saturated  he  is  with  classical  history  and  ideals,  and  therefore  how 
unfitted  to  write  on  racial  problems :  — 

"The  preceding  pages  have  aimed  at  showing  that  certain  races 
which  we  regard  as  inferior,  and  the  highest  of  which  is  certainly 
our  inferior  in  military  and  political  organisation,  are  likely  to 
increase  very  largely  in  comparison  with  the  races  which  at  present 
constitute  what  claims  to  be  the  civilised  world.  Such  an  event 
has  happened  once  before  under  such  circumstances  that  its 
character  and  results  are  tolerably  well  known.  An  old  order, 
which  we  call  in  the  first  period  of  its  existence  the  Roman 
Empire,  broke  up  as  invaders  poured  down  upon  it  from  Germany 
and  Russia,  from  Central  Asia,  and  from  Persia.  '  It  seems  at  first 
incredible  that  so  magnificent  a  polity  as  Trajan  succeeded  to 
should  not  have  been  able  to  maintain  itself.  Lying  centrally 
round  the  sea  which  was  then  the  great  highway  and  artery  of  com- 
merce, the  Roman  dominion  was  traversed  by  roads,  which 
gave  its  armies  the  great  advantage  of  concentrating  rapidly  on  any 
point     that     was     menaced.     Its     population     was     incomparably 


26         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

For  Roman  liberty,  though  an  improvement  on 
Greek  conceptions,  was,  like  all  liberty  of  antiquity, 
confined  really  to  those  who,  being  present  in  the  capi- 
tal, could  take  an  active  part  in  the  public  dehbera- 
tions.  It  was  the  liberty  of  a  city  and  not  of  a  land. 
It  was  therefore  exactly  similar  in  practice,  if  not  in 
theory,  to  the  kind  of  liberty  which  has  always  been 
understood  in  advanced  Asiatic  States  —  the  system  of 
government  by  equipoise  and  nothing  else.*      The  idea 

greater  than  that  of  any  neighbour;  its  generals  and  engineers  and 
the  equipment  of  its  troops  were  unsurpassed  in  the  world;  and 
the  emperors  of  capacity  were  sufficiently  numerous  to  have  atoned 
for  the  incompetence  of  a  few.  An  observer  speculating  upon  mani- 
fest destiny,  and  knowing  nothing  more  of  the  earth  than  was 
known  a  little  earlier  to  the  elder  Pliny,  might  surely  have  said 
with  reason,  in  Trajan's  time,  that  sooner  or  later  the  eagles  would 
certainly  fly  in  triumph  over  the  whole  habitable  world.  Even 
now,  though  we  can  trace  the  stages  of  decadence,  it  is  difficult 
not  to  be  astonished  at  the  completeness  of  the  ruin.  Summing 
up  the  most  obvious  causes,  we  seem  to  see  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  deprived  Italy  of  a  large  part  of  her  natural  and  best 
defenders;  that  the  burden  of  taxes  produced  a  depopulation  in 
the  provinces,  as  men  ceased  to  marry,  or  escaped  across  the  border 
and  joined  the  barbarians;  and  that  while  Rome  was  thus  losing 
her  life-blood,  Germans  and  Parthians  were  acquiring  the  arts 
of  war,  and  becoming  conscious  of  their  strength.  Even  so, 
we  have  to  fall  back  upon  other  explanations  —  upon  famines  and 
pestilences  that  desolated  provinces,  and  upon  an  upheaval  of  peoples 
in  the  Far  East,  resulting  in  an  exodus  of  Tartars  across  Europe  — 
fully  to  understand  why  the  attack  on  the  Roman  Empire  became 
so  strong,  and  was  at  last  so  weakly  combated."  —  National  Life 
and  Character,  Chap.  II. 

Briefly,  Rome  fell  because  real  Europe  had  to  arise,  and  because 
a  multiplication  of  municipalities  can  never  produce  a  real  and  endur- 
ing nation. 

^  "  First  of  all,  we  must  clearly  represent  to  ourselves  the  nature 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  how  it  was  formed. 

"Rome  was,  in  its  origin,  only  a  municipality,  a  corporation. 
The  government  of  Rome  was    merely  the  aggregate  of  the  insti- 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  27 

of  giving  those  who  Hved  at  a  distance  from  the  capi- 
tal any  means  of  representing  their  wishes  was  never 

tutions  which  were  suited  to  a  population  confined  within  the 
walls  of  a  city:  these  were  municipal  institutions  —  that  is  their 
distinguishing  character. 

"This  was  not  the  case  with  Rome  only.  If  we  turn  our 
attention  to  Italy,  at  this  period,  we  find  around  Rome  nothing  but 
towns.  That  which  was  then  called  a  people  was  simply  a 
confederation  of  towns.  The  Latin  people  was  a  confederation 
of  Latin  towns.  The  Etruscans,  the  Samnites,  the  Sabines,  the 
people  of  Magna  Graecia,  may  all  be  described  in  the  same 
terms. 

"There  was,  at  the  time,  no  country  —  that  is  to  say,  the 
country  was  wholly  unlike  that  which  at  present  exists:  it  was 
cultivated,  as  was  necessary,  but  it  was  uninhabited.  The  pro- 
prietors of  lands  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns.  They  went 
forth  to  superintend  their  country  properties,  and  often  took 
with  them  a  certain  number  of  slaves;  but  that  which  we  at 
present  call  the  country,  that  thin  population  —  sometimes  in  iso- 
lated habitations,  sometimes  in  villages  —  which  everywhere  covers 
the  soil,  was  a  fact  almost  unknown  in  ancient  Italy. 

"When  Rome  extended  itself,  what  did  she  do?  Follow  his- 
tory, and  you  will  see  that  she  conquered  or  founded  towns;  it 
was  against  towns  that  she  fought,  with  towns  that  she  contracted 
alliances;  it  was  also  into  towns  that  she  sent  colonies.  The  his- 
tory of  the  conquest  of  the  world  by  Rome  is  the  history  of  the  con- 
quest and  foundation  of  a  great  number  of  towns.  In  the  East, 
the  extension  of  Roman  dominion  does  not  carry  altogether  this  as- 
pect: the  population  there  was  otherwise  distributed  than  in  the 
West  —  it  was  much  less  concentrated  in  towns.  But  as  we  have 
to  do  here  with  the  European  population,  what  occurred  in  the  East 
is  of  little  interest  to  us. 

"Confining  ourselves  to  the  West,  we  everywhere  discover  the 
fact  to  which  I  have  directed  your  attention.  In  Gaul,  in  Spain, 
you  meet  with  nothing  but  towns.  At  a  distance  from  the 
towns,  the  territory  is  covered  with  marshes  and  forests.  Examine 
the  character  of  the  Roman  monuments,  of  the  Roman  roads. 
You  have  great  roads,  which  reach  from  one  city  to  another;  the 
multiplicity  of  minor  roads,  which  now  cross  the  country  in  all 
directions,  was  then   unknown;  you   have  nothing  resembling  that 


28         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

considered  at  all;  and  so  it  was  the  populace  of  the 
capital,  aided  by  such  forces  as  might  be  introduced  by 
the  contesting  generals  or  leaders,  which  held  all  the 
actual  political  power.  Representative  government  — 
the  only  effective  guarantee  of  liberty  of  any  sort  — 
had  therefore  not  yet  been  dreamt  of;  and  since  it  is 
this  principle  which  has  to-day  become  the  paramount 
principle  throughout  the  whole  civilised  world  (because 
it  is  admittedly  the  root  of  happiness  and  justice),  it 
must  be  from  here  —  that  is,  from  the  entry  of  what 
may  be  called  wholesale  individualism  into  the  political 
arena  —  that  the  real  history  of  Europe  commences.  It 
is  essential  to  trace  in  some  detail  the  fortunes  of  this 
principle,  in  conjunction  with  that  other  truly  European 
principle,  the  evolution  of  the  doctrine  of  the  balance 
of  power,  brought  into  existence  by  overindulgence  in 
the  ancient  barbarian  doctrine  of  force;  for  by  so  doing, 
in  very  few  pages  it  is  possible  to  summarise  first  Euro- 
pean history,  and  then  world-history;  and  thus  to 
gain  an  enlightening  objective  standpoint  from  which  to 
survey  the  present  conflict  of  colour. 

Alison  has  well  said  that  the  one  priceless  possession 
of  the  uncivilised  Northern  Barbarians  was  the  Hberty 
which  they  brought  from  their  woods  and  deserts. 
This  liberty  was  new  in  Europe  and  very  peculiar,  inso- 

countless  number  of  villages,  country  seats,  and  churches,  which 
have  been  scattered  over  the  country  since  the  middle  ages. 
Rome  has  left  us  nothing  but  immense  monuments,  stamped  with 
the  municipal  character,  and  destined  for  a  numerous  population 
collected  upon  one  spot.  Under  whatever  point  of  view  you 
consider  the  Roman  world,  you  will  find  this  almost  exclusive 
preponderance  of  towns,  and  the  social  non-existence  of  the 
country."  —  Guizot :  History  of  Civilization  in  Europe,  First 
Lecture. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  29 

much  as  it  knew  no  locality  and  was  confined  to  no 
district :  it  was  a  sentiment  which  burned  in  the  breast 
of  the  entire  tribe.  Leaders  owed  their  elevation 
solely  to  the  choice  of  their  fellow-warriors;  and  it 
was  the  settlement  all  over  Europe  of  these  men  —  pos- 
sessing this  one  elective  principle  —  which  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  white  nations  distributed  power 
over  vast  regions  instead  of  confining  it  to  cities.  Every 
barbarian  warrior  having  received  as  his  reward,  on 
the  break-up  of  the  empire  of  the  Caesars,  agricul- 
tural lands  already  tilled  by  a  skilful  but  subservient 
tenantry,  he  was  willing  to  estabHsh  himself  permanently 
on  his  own  domains,  only  assembling  with  the  rest  of 
his  race  whenever  an  actual  convocation  of  the  military 
array  of  his  principality  was  summoned  to  settle  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  It  was  the  increasing  difficulty  of 
securing  the  universal  attendance  of  military  follow- 
ers which  finally  led  to  the  introduction  of  represent- 
ative legislatures;  and  here  it  was  that  the  Christian 
Church  played  a  great  political  role  by  providing  a 
concrete  example  of  the  methods  which  inevitably 
had  to  be  pursued.  From  here  onwards  in  Europe, 
civilisation  and  Christianity  fitly  become  exchange- 
able terms  —  that  is,  until  the  dawn  of  the  scientific 
era. 

As  is  well  known,  the  Councils  of  the  Christian 
Church  had  by  the  sixth  century  introduced  a  perfect 
system  of  representation,  so  that  the  delegates  from  the 
most  remote  dioceses  in  Europe  and  Asia  Minor  met 
regularly  together  to  order  their  affairs.  As  early  as 
the  year  325  that  famous  ecumenical  council  which 
promulgated  the  Nicene  Creed  had  met  at  Nicaea  for 
the  specific  purpose  of  settling  matters  arising  out  of 


30         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

the  Arian  controversy;  and  this  disciplinary  measure  of 
the  Church  gained  for  it  great  renown.  The  barbarian 
nations,  as  they  accepted  Christianity,  accepted  those 
methods  of  Christianity  of  which  they  had  previously 
been  ignorant;  and  amongst  these  methods  this  system 
of  delegates  is  politically  the  most  noticeable  feature. 
But  though  there  was  this  powerful  example  —  though 
all  credit  is  due  to  the  Church  for  the  historic  role  it 
has  played  —  representative  government  would  have 
never  been  so  early  possible  in  European  countries  and 
individualism  so  powerful  a  force,  had  not  the  rude 
rural  aristocracy  soon  found  it  necessary  to  safeguard 
their  scattered  possessions  by  establishing  an  entirely 
new  principle.     That  principle  was  primogeniture. 

This  principle,  the  right  of  preserving  in  every  fam- 
ily the  regular  succession  from  father  to  eldest  son, 
although  to-day  an  anachronism,  has  exercised  on  the 
history  of  Europe  a  most  powerful  effect:  it  is  the 
root-principle  in  the  tenure  of  land  in  early  civilisations, 
and  wielded  a  most  beneficent  political  influence.  By 
insuring  continuity  and  conservatism,  it  gradually  but 
inevitably  introduced  law  and  order,  and  grouped  round 
all  the  great  land-owning  classes  new  elements  of 
strength.  Herein  Europe  at  last  differentiated  herself 
in  a  most  essential  particular  from  her  great  rival  Asia.^ 

^  In  trying  to  establish  the  difference  between  Europe  and 
Asia  —  and  Asia  to  him  only  meant  the  Near  and  Middle  East  — 
Alison  has  the  following  passage :  — 

"How,  then,  has  it  happened,  that  the  same  conquerors, 
subduing  and  settling  in  substantially  the  same  physical  circum- 
stances, should  have  given  birth  to  nations  so  essentially  and 
diametrically  opposite  as  those  of  Europe  and  Asia  ?  Why  have 
freedom  and  knowledge  been  sheltered  from  the  lances  of  the  one, 
and  both  invariably  perished,  from  the  earliest  times,  under  the  sabres 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  31 

As  has  been  constantly  pointed  out,  the  fundamental 
basis  in  Asia,  both  in  public  and  private  Hfe,  has  always 
been  the  principle  of  selection,  as  opposed  to  this  other 
principle  which  rests  on  a  well-defined  law.  In  Asia  no 
guarantee  has  ever  existed  that  any  person  —  a  son,  an 
officer,  or  even  the  highest  personage  in  the  land  — 
may  not  suddenly  lose  everything  overnight  through 
favouritism,  thus  weakening  national  life  at  every 
possible  point.     But  regular  succession,  by  locking  men 

of  the  other  ?  And  whence  is  it  that  the  same  corruption,  which 
has  so  speedily  in  every  age  consumed  or  enfeebled  the  de- 
scendants of  Asiatic  conquest,  has,  after  the  lapse  of  a  thousand 
years,  still  made  comparatively  little  impression  on  the  offspring 
of  Gothic  invasion .?  Simply,  because  the  religion  of  the  two 
quarters  of  the  globe  in  which  the  same  conquerors  settled  was 
different;  because  polygamy  has  not  in  Europe  spread  its  jeal- 
ousies, nor  the  harem  its  seductions;  because  superstitious  be- 
lief, in  barbarous  times,  restrained  power  by  imaginary  terrors, 
and  Christian  charity,  in  civilised,  assuaged  suffering  by  real 
blessings;  because  slavery  has  generally  disappeared  before  the 
proclaimed  equality  of  men,  and  a  perpetual  renovation  been  thus 
provided  to  the  richer  classes;  because  war  has  been  softened  by 
the  humanity  breathed  into  its  conflicts;  because  learning,  shel- 
tered under  the  sanctity  of  the  monastery,  has  survived  the  devas- 
tation of  ignorance,  and  freedom,  nursed  by  devotion,  has  ac- 
quired a  strength  superior  to  all  the  forces  of  despotism."  —  History 
of  Europe,  Vol.  I. 

To  speak  soberly,  never  was  more  foolish  rodomontade  written 
by  a  serious  historian.  It  is,  of  course,  due  neither  to  religion  nor 
to  polygamy  that  Europe  and  Asia  are  different  —  since  these 
are  rather  results  than  first  causes.  CHmate,  soil,  and  environ- 
ment are  the  great  first  causes  of  the  difference  —  climate  alone 
being  a  sufficiently  powerful  factor,  as  those  who  have  resided  in 
hot  climates  know,  to  produce  in  a  few  generations  the  most 
remarkable  changes.  Until  physiography  is  understood,  no  man 
is  entitled  to  write  history.  The  habit  of  speaking  of  Asia  in  the 
phlegethonic  terms  employed  by  Alison  is  merely  a  survival  from 
mediaeval  times. 


32         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

to  the  soil  and  identifying  them  permanently  with  their 
own  districts,  soon  completed  in  Mediaeval  Europe  the 
necessary  fusion  of  conquerors  and  conquered  which 
seemed  at  first  so  impossible.  Hundreds  of  years,  it  is 
true,  were  consumed  in  effecting  that  compromise  with 
various  conflicting  conditions  which  has  given  to  each 
European  country  its  essential  present-day  features;  but 
through  all  this  dreary  blank  of  years  is  to  be  seen  the 
steady  preparation  towards  the  allotted  end. 

It  was  thus  only  natural  that  the  Prankish  empire  of 
Charlemagne,  or  Karl  the  Great,  should  have  been 
the  first  real  polity  to  arise  between  the  fifth  and  ninth 
centuries,  and  that  from  this  revival  of  the  fiction  of 
an  universal  empire  should  spring  a  train  of  circum- 
stances which  show  their  influence  even  to-day.  Com- 
pounded of  a  mixture  of  Teutonic  and  Gallic  blood,  this 
mediaeval  empire  had  sufficient  rude  barbarism  and 
sufficient  refinement  to  be  measurably  superior  to  the 
pure  barbarians  who  still  lingered  in  German  forests  or 
on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic;  whilst  to  its  armed  force 
the  refined  serfs  of  more  southerly  latitudes  could  offer 
no  firm  resistance.^     Therefore  attracted  to  Rome  and 

^  It  is  a  fact  which  any  student  may  verify  for  himself,  that 
European  history  is  largely  the  history  of  the  development  of 
armed  force  —  quite  contrary,  for  instance,  to  the  history  of  China, 
where  armed  force  has  been  a  disintegrating  rather  than  a  construc- 
tive power,  Chinese  reason  being  always  inclined  to  reject  as  a 
valid  argument  a  blow,  or  a  series  of  blows.  In  Europe,  however, 
all  liberties  owe  their  existence  to  violence;  had  there  been  no 
violence  there  would  have  been  no  liberties.  Here  it  is  interest- 
ing to  quote  what  even  a  writer  such  as  Alison  has  said  of  the  Medi- 
aeval Italian  republics,  which  some  people  still  believe,  like  the  Gre- 
cian republics,  to  have  been  model  States :  — 

"The  States  of  Florence,  Venice,  Genoa,  and  Pisa  were  not  in 
reality   free;   they   were   communities   in   which   a    few   individuals 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  33 

baptized  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  because  Rome  still 
remained  the  traditional  ideal  among  the  peoples  of 
Europe,  it  was  this  peculiar  polity  which  cast  its  shadow 
over  the  history  of  Europe  for  so  many  centuries 
and  so  sensibly  influenced  the  growth  and  decline  of 
nations. 
Though  the  new  empire  could  make  no  lasting  fabric 

had  usurped  the  rights,  and  disposed  of  the  fortunes,  of  the  great 
bulk  of  their  fellow  citizens,  whom  they  governed  as  subjects,  or 
insulted  as  slaves.  During  the  most  flourishing  period  of  their 
history,  the  citizens  of  all  the  Italian  republics  did  not  amount  to 
20,000;  and  these  privileged  classes  held  as  many  millions  in  sub- 
jection. The  citizens  of  Venice  were  2,500  —  those  of  Genoa,  4,500 
—  those  of  Pisa,  Siena,  Lucca,  and  Florence,  taken  together,  not 
above  6,000.  The  right  of  citizenship,  thus  limited,  descended  in 
a  few  families,  and  was  as  carefully  guarded  from  invasion  as  the 
private  estates  of  the  nobility.  To  the  conquered  provinces  no  priv- 
ileges were  extended;  to  the  repubhcs  in  alliance  no  rights 
were  communicated.  A  rigid  system  at  once  of  political  and 
mercantile  exclusion  directed  their  whole  policy.  The  privileged 
classes  in  the  dominant  State  anxiously  retained  the  whole  powers 
of  government  in  their  own  hands,  and  the  jealous  spirit  of  mer- 
cantile monopoly  ruled  the  fortunes  of  the  State  as  much  as 
it  cramped  the  industrial  energies  of  the  subject  territory.  From 
freedom  thus  confined,  no  general  benefit  could  be  expected;  on 
a  basis  thus  narrowed,  no  structure  of  permanent  duration  could 
be  raised.  Even  during  their  greatest  prosperity  these  States  were 
disgraced  by  perpetual  discord  springing  from  so  unjust  and 
arbitrary  an  exclusion;  and  the  massy  architecture  of  Florence 
still  attests  the  period  when  every  noble  family  was  prepared  to 
stand  a  siege  in  their  own  palace,  in  defence  of  the  rights  which 
they  sternly  denied  to  their  fellow-citizens.  The  rapid  progress 
and  splendid  history  of  these  aristocratic  republics  may  teach  us 
the  animating  influence  of  freedom,  even  upon  a  limited  class  of 
society;  their  sudden  decline,  and  speedy  loss  of  public  spirit, 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  confining  to  a  few  the  rights  which 
should  be  shared  by  a  large  circle,  and  governing  in  the  narrow  spirit 
of  mercantile  monopoly,  not  in  the  enlarged  views  of  equal  admin- 
istration." —  History   of  Europe,  Vol.   I. 

D 


34         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

out  of  peoples  who  were  still  in  a  state  of  solution,  to 
the  grandiose  conceptions  of  a  Charlemagne  must  be 
traced  the  formal  addition  to  the  already  existing  military 
system  of  the  institution  of  feudalism  —  a  curious  insti- 
tution of  which  many  traces  exist  even  to-day.  To 
Dukes,  Margraves,  Barons,  and  other  lieutenants  of  the 
Empire  was  confided  the  duty  of  preserving  peace  and 
order  on  the  outskirts  of  civilisation,  as  it  then  appeared; 
and  the  great  districts  thus  granted  on  military  tenure 
were  the  germs  from  which  sprang  principalities  and 
kingdoms  —  and,  later,  actual  nations.  The  private 
wars  which  soon  raged  between  these  militant  notables 
served  largely  to  revive  the  military  spirit  among  the 
masses  of  unwarHke  serfs,  and,  better  still,  to  unite  them 
to  the  interests  of  their  masters.  Now  forced  to  defend 
themselves  or  to  suffer  extirpation,  the  tillers  of  the  fields 
in  every  region  became  inured  to  new  hardships.  From 
this  peculiar  regionalism  grew  the  later  plant  of  nation- 
alism; and  though  the  use  of  arms  in  Europe  never 
obtained  the  general  vogue  it  did  in  England  —  where 
the  bowmen  speedily  became  the  backbone  of  the  nation 
and  won  for  themselves  through  the  French  wars  a  vast 
European  celebrity  —  the  new  state  of  affairs  hastened 
that  movement  which  welded  districts  into  provinces 
and  provinces  into  kingdoms. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  kingship  ^  received  a  new 

^  "There  was  another  characteristic  of  royalty,  not  less  important 
to  observe:  royalty  was  a  power  which,  neither  in  its  origin  nor 
in  its  nature,  was  well  defined  or  clearly  limited.  No  one  at  that 
time  could  have  assigned  to  it  a  special  and  precise  origin.  It 
was  neither  purely  hereditary,  nor  purely  elective,  nor  regarded  as 
solely  of  divine  institution.  It  was  neither  coronation,  nor  eccle- 
siastical anointing,  nor  hereditary  descent,  which  alone  and 
exclusively    conferred    the    royal    character.     All    these    conditions, 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  35 

and  definite  meaning  that  anything  resembling  the 
divisions  of  modern  Europe  are  to  be  found,  and  that 
the  day  of  mere  enclaves  is  done  with.  It  is  indeed 
important  to  note  that  the  first  necessary  step  for  the 
expansion  of  the  white  races  over  the  world  was  noth- 
ing but  the  perfection  of  this  idea  of  kingship,  as  op- 
posed to  the  old  idea  of  an  ill-defined  imperial  sway 
which  embraced  all  known  peoples  and  really  controlled 
none.  To  perfect  this  idea  it  was  necessary  to  extin- 
guish temporarily  the  purely  European  notion  of  lib- 
erty —  the  primitive  form  of  representative  govern- 
ment which  had  drifted  into  aristocratic  privilege  —  and 
to  substitute  therefor  the  despotic  or  personal  rule  of 
sovereigns.  To  trace  in  detail  how  this  came  about 
would  be  merely  to  tread  well-worn  ground;  but  it  is 
essential  —  keeping  well  in  mind  the  special  object  of 
these  pages  —  to  mention  some  general  causes,  which  at 
the  moment  have  particular  interest. 

It  may  be  boldly  argued  that  so  long  as  physical  force 
properly    speaking  —  that    is    the    strength    of    men's 

all  these  facts,  were  requisite;  and  other  conditions,  other  facts, 
were  afterwards  added.  You  have  seen  the  official  account  of  the 
coronation  of  Philip  I.,  and  have  recognised  there  evident  indica- 
tions of  election;  the  persons  present,  the  grand  vassals,  knights, 
people,  expressed  their  consent;  they  said:  We  accept,  we  con- 
sent, we  will.  In  a  word,  principles  the  most  various,  princi- 
ples generally  considered  as  wholly  contradictory,  combined  and 
met  together  round  the  cradle  of  royalty.  All  the  other  powers  had 
a  simple  definite  origin;  the  manner  of  their  erection  and  the  date 
were  readily  assignable;  every  one  knew  that  feudal  suzerainty  was 
derived  from  conquest,  from  the  concession  by  the  chief  to  his  com- 
panions of  territorial  property;  the  source  of  that  power  was  easily 
traced  back,  but  the  source  of  royalty  was  remote,  various;  no  one 
knew  where  to  fix  it."  —  Guizot :  History  of  Civilization  in  FrancCy 
Thirteenth  Lecture. 


36         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

arms  —  was  the  dominant  feature  in  European  life,  so 
long  was  it  impossible  for  kings  properly  to  combat  the 
power  of  their  vassals  and  to  centralise  the  government 
in  themselves.  To  put  it  differently,  so  long  as  the 
lance,  the  battle-axe,  the  heavy  two-handed  sword,  and 
the  longbow,  were  the  decisive  weapons,  so  long  did 
Europe  and  Asia  remain  in  their  modes  of  government 
very  much  alike.  In  both  regions  the  idea  of  kingship 
could  not  but  be  largely  theocratic;  though  the  nominal 
authority  was  immense,  in  all  practical  matters  it  was 
very  small,  and  dependent  not  so  much  on  the  obedience 
as  on  the  co-operation  of  great  men.  In  Europe,  the 
feudal  barons,  entrenched  in  their  castles  and  always 
supported  by  devoted  bands,  howsoever  loyal  they 
might  be  when  confronted  by  some  imminent  outer 
danger,  were  of  a  markedly  independent  spirit  in  times 
of  nominal  peace.  To  their  rights  and  privileges  they 
clung  with  passionate  determination,  pointing  to 
them  as  the  real  safeguards  of  national  liberty.  Yet 
in  reality,  as  the  contest  of  Resebecque  ^  conclusively 
proves,  the  ancient  barbarian  liberty  had  in  the  course 
of  centuries  become  the  liberty  of  a  narrow  class, 
which  could  not  tolerate  independence  in  any  other 
class. 

But  with  the  invention  of  gunpowder  and  the  miracle 

*  The  instance  of  Resebecque  is  the  best  instance  to  quote,  as 
here  we  have  the  one  rival  to  feudal  power  —  municipal  power  — 
which  in  the  hands  of  the  burghers  of  Flanders  had  grown  to  a  re- 
spectable stature.  But  burghers  have  not  the  firmness  of  peasants; 
and  so  whilst  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  Swiss  mountaineers 
secured  their  independence  by  the  victory  of  Sempach,  in  the 
same  century  feudalism  crushed  the  commercialism  of  municipali- 
ties and  showed  clearly  that  to*  destroy  it  something  sterner  than 
mere  enlightenment  was  required. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  37 

of  printing  there  came  a  vast  change.  The  general 
diffusion  of  a  knowledge  concerning  the  immediate 
potency  of  these  two  agencies  could  not  be  arrested,  and 
the  real  power  of  feudalism  was  automatically  destroyed. 
It  is  surely  a  curious  commentary  on  human  nature  to 
reflect  that  printing  and  the  consequent  general  spread 
of  knowledge  would  have  meant  very  little  to  the  un- 
imaginative white  races  —  with  whom  the  doctrine  of 
force  is  a  first  article  of  faith  —  had  not  the  levelling 
influence  of  gunpowder  long  been  at  work.  Placing  in 
the  power  of  the  meanest  man  the  ability  of  instantly 
destroying  any  opponent,  however  well-armed,  well- 
horsed,  and  powerful  he  might  be,  gunpowder  —  though 
it  first  helped  the  power  of  kings  —  might  to-day  well 
have  a  statue  raised  to  it  by  every  democracy,  were  its 
historic  claims  as  a  liberator  among  the  races  properly 
understood.  It  is  no  wonder  that  to-day  anarchists  see 
in  the  higher  explosives  the  sole  engines  with  which  to 
secure  acceptance  of  their  higher  doctrines. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  spread  of  the  use  of  gun- 
powder throughout  Europe  was  remarkable,  though 
feudalism,  devoted  to  its  privileges,  died  hard.  Fire- 
arms require  skilled  hands  to  be  used  properly;  skill 
requires  constant  practice;  and  constant  practice  could 
only  be  indulged  in  by  those  who  were  constantly  em- 
ployed. In  this  way  standing  armies  in  the  employ  of 
the  sovereign  were  born;  and  the  infantryman,  destined 
henceforth  to  decide  the  destinies  of  Europe,  soon  be- 
comes the  leading  figure  in  the  drama  of  history. 

Now,  just  as  it  was  natural  that  the  empire  of 
Charlemagne  should  have  arisen  at  the  time  and  in  the 
region  it  did  —  in  Central  Europe  —  so  was  it  only 
natural  that  the  first  dominant  Power  —  aiming  at  a 


38         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

universal  monarchy,^  but  in  reality  never  more  than  a 
limited  military  monarchy  —  at  the  close  of  the  feudal 
period  and  at  the  dawn  of  modern  history,  should  have 
been  Spain. 

From  the  death  of  Charlemagne  (842)  to  a  period 
not  long  before  the  Reformation,  there  had  been 
throughout  Europe,  in  spite  of  the  continued  firtion  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  but  one  really  effective  em- 
pire —  the  empire  of  the  Popes.  The  Crusades,  by 
uniting  all  men  in  the  beHef  that  their  spiritual  w^elfare 

^  The  writer  has  taken  the  following  from  Lodge's  Student's 
Modern  Europe  as  showing  very  tersely  and  clearly  this  posi- 
tion :  — 

"In  the  dark  ages,  as  in  the  middle  ages,  the  political  theo- 
rist regarded  the  whole  of  Christendom  as  forming  one  reli- 
gious and  political  State.  This  idea  of  unity  which  gave  rise 
to  Charlemagne's  Holy  Roman  Empire  was  an  impossible  ideal, 
because  Church  and  State  were  divided,  as  had  been  unknown 
before  the  introduction  of  Christianity;  and  being  divided,  it 
was  logical  that  rivalry  should  lead  to  warfare.  Thus  what 
happened  was  that  the  practical  power  of  the  Empire  was 
weakened  and  finally  destroyed  by  the  long  struggle  with  the 
Papacy;  for  after  the  accession  of  the  Hapsburgs,  made  necessary 
by  the  great  interregnum  (1251-72)  which  followed  the  fall  of  the 
Hohenstaufen,  the  empire  had  sunk  to  an  ordinary  territorial 
lordship,  whilst  the  championship  of  the  temporal,  as  opposed 
to  the  spiritual,  power  fell  to  stronger  hands,  producing  schisms 
in  the  Papacy  which  finally  resulted  in  the  Popes  themselves 
sinking  into  temporal  rulers  of  the  States  of  the  church,  though 
until  the  Reformation  their  spiritual  authority  was  undimin- 
ished." 

Thus  the  Papacy  destroyed  the  Empire,  and  the  Empire 
indirectly  the  Papacy.  Absolutism,  being  only  a  fiction  in  Aus- 
tria, became  a  fact  when  Austrian  Princes  succeeded  to  the 
heritage  of  Spain  and  Spain  became  the  leading  Power.  France, 
revived  by  this  spectacle,  introduced  absolutism  herself,  and  we 
are  suddenly  transferred  from  an  era  of  anecdotes  to  a  time  when 
far-reaching  history  was  rapidly  made. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  39 

came  before  all  earthly  things,  had  given  the  Popes 
marvellous  authority,  which  it  required  centuries  to 
undermine.  So  deeply  had  the  theocratic  conception 
sunk  into  men's  hearts  that  even  kings  held  their  high 
office,  in  the  popular  view^,  far  less  by  right  of  prescrip- 
tion than  by  right  of  papal  sanction.  The  terrible 
threat  of  excommunication  was  a  very  real  disciplinary 
measure,  almost  as  disconcerting,  because  of  its  peculiar 
political  force,  to  an  absolute  monarch  such  as  the 
EngHsh  king  Henry  VIII.,  as  to  a  bigot  such  as  Phihp 
II.  of  Spain.  Thus  it  is  that  we  find  throughout  all 
those  strange  contests  of  mediaeval  times  the  dim  figure 
in  Peter's  Chair  exercising  an  undefined  influence  when- 
ever the  appeal  to  arms  changes  to  an  appeal  to  author- 
ity. Though  Popes  might  be  captured  and  imprisoned, 
their  authority  was  not  diminished,  since  it  was  to 
influence  the  sublime  authority  vested  in  their  persons 
that  such  irreverent  steps  were  taken. 

With  the  rise  of  Spain  a  new  era  opens. 

The  astounding  struggle  against  the  Moors,  in  which 
the  Spaniards  had  been  engaged  for  so  many  centuries  — 
a  struggle  without  parallel  in  European  history,  since 
the  struggle  against  the  Turks  was  conducted  by  many 
nations  —  was  undoubtedly  responsible  for  the  sudden 
and  dramatic  predominance  of  Spain  in  European  poli- 
tics. For  seven  hundred  years  this  conflict  had  been 
not  very  different  from  that  border  warfare  which  must 
always  exist  between  two  rival  peoples  occupying  the 
same  land.  But  though  it  may  not  have  been  as  fierce 
as  the  decimating  contest  in  south-eastern  Europe 
against  the  Turk,  it  was  more  continuous  and  better 
understood  by  all;  and  it  had  become  such  an  article  of 
faith  with  the  mass  of  the  population,  that  the  lesson 


40         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

had   sunk   deep   into   their   hearts,  and   made   of  the 
Spaniards  the  most  resolute  fighters  in  Europe.* 

With  the  union  of  the  Thrones  of  Aragon  and 
Castile  in  1479,  and  the  clearer  definition  of  Spanish 
nationality  thus  given,  the  struggle  entered  a  new  and 
last  phase.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  spurred  on  by  a 
variety  of  causes,  soon  had  developed  such  a  highly 
offensive  policy  that  by  the  year  149 1  —  the  year  before 
the  discovery  of  America  —  Moorish  rule  was  completely 
broken  and  swept  from  the  Iberian  peninsula,  and  such 
Mahommedans  as  remained  quickly  sank  to  the  miser- 
able position  of  serfs.  A  united  Spain  at  last  existed, 
and  buoyed  up  by  a  religious  faith  which  had  been 
purified  in  the  fire  of  adversity  and  which  saw  in  the 
Cross  not  merely  a  symbol  of  faith  but  a  perpetual  in- 
spiration, world-wide  results  of  the  most  remarkable 
nature  followed  each  other  in  quicl^  succession.  The 
valour,  the  intelligence,  and  the  energy  which  the 
Spaniards  displayed  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  Macaulay  has  well 
remarked,  were  the  direct  fruits  of  the  ancient  institu- 
tions of  Aragon  and  Castile  ^  —  institutions  eminently 

*  The  writer  is  reserving  for  his  final  chapter  the  more  par- 
ticular effect  of  the  struggle  of  Europe  against  Asiatic  and  African 
foes  from  the  days  of  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  —  first  on  the 
soil  of  Europe,  then  out  of  Europe.  This  introduction  merely 
examines  certain  internal  aspects  in  Europe,  the  better  to  under- 
stand the  present  position  throughout  the  world  as  dealt  with  in  the 
body  of  the  book. 

2  The  liberal  nature  of  the  ancient  institutions  of  Spain  is  best 
examined  in  Spanish  America,  whither  were  transplanted  the  old 
rights  of  Spaniards  after  the  Spanish  conquests  had  been  made.  A 
striking  similarity  exists  between  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  town-rights 
and  Castilian  town-rights. 

The  Castilian  Pueblo  System  was  based  upon  the  laws  and  lib- 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  41 

favourable  to  the  growth  of  public  Hberty  and  calcu- 
lated to  make  Spain  one  of  the  first  nations  of  the  world, 
because  the  Hberty  and  rights  of  the  individual 
were  openly  acknowledged  and  most  carefully  safe- 
guarded. 

But  this  was  not  all.  The  fact  that  the  Moor  was 
not  only  a  foreigner  but  a  coloured  infidel  as  well,  had 
long  accustomed  the  Spanish  people  to  look  on  the 
outer  world  of  Asia  and  Africa  very  differently  from 
Central  and  Northern  Europe.  The  Moor  possessed 
erudition  and  skill;  he  had  proved  conclusively  to  the 
Spaniard  that  beyond  the  narrow  boundaries  of  Europe 
were  forces  of  unknown  strength;  and  in  Spain's 
proximity  to  Portugal  —  that  land  of  mediaeval 
explorers  —  was  to  be  found  another  fortunate  circum- 
stance. Already,  before  the  Moorish  struggle  had 
reached  its  last  phase,  Portuguese  explorers  had  voyaged 
far  down  the  coast  of  Western  Africa,  seeking  for  new 
lands  and  new  routes;  and  as  early  as  1487  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  had  actually  been  doubled  by  Bartholomew 

erties  of  Castile  compiled  in  the  Fuero  Juzgo  (a.d.  693),  the 
Siete  Partidas  (a.d.  1348),  and  the  Castilian  code  of  Montalvo 
(a.d.  1485),  known  as  the  Ordenancias  Reales,  supplemented  by 
additional  Codes  in  the  time  of  Queen  Isabella.  It  was  the  great 
wish  of  that  "good  queen"  to  have  the  Municipal  Law  of  Castile 
codified  for  the  use  of  her  subjects  in  Spanish  America,  and  the  work 
was  in  progress  at  the  time  of  her  death,  and  was  subsequently  known 
as  the  "Laws  of  the  Indies." 

In  the  Laws  of  the  Indies  (Book  II.,  Title  i.,  Law  2)  we  read  the 
following  legal  status  of  Spanish  America :  — 

"We  decree  and  command  that,  in  all  cases  not  decided  nor 
provided  by  the  laws  contained  in  this  compilation,  the  laws  of 
our  kingdom  of  Castile  shall  be  observed  according  to  the  Law  of 
Toro." 

The  Cortes  of  Castile  held  at  Toro  in  1505  was  largely  devoted 
to  the  confirmation  of  town-rights. 


42         THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

Diaz.^     The  noise  and  celebrity  which  these  voyages 

were    making   throughout    Southern    Europe    and    the 

Mediterranean    basin    spurred    Columbus    to    his    yet 

greater  discoveries;   and  therefore  while  to  Portugal  fell 

by  Papal  Bull  the  heritage  of  the  older  world  of  Africa 

and  Asia,  for  Spain  was  reserved  the  richer  heritage  of 

the  New  World.     To  put  it  diflFerently,  then,  it  was 

sudden    contact    with    extra-European    forces    which 

at  the   dawn  of  modern   history   became  the  greatest 

propelling  agency  in  the  advance  of  the  white  nations; 

and  Spain,  being  better  situated  than  Portugal  to  use 

that  agency  in  relation  to  the  rest  of  Europe  —  being 

much  larger  and  much  stronger  —  speedily  assumed  the 

^  It  is  curious  to  see  how,  as  the  Turkish  assaults  on  the 
Eastern  Empire  became  fiercer,  and  the  old  communications  with 
the  East  rapidly  closed,  at  the  other  extreme  end  of  Southern 
Europe  men  became  quickened  with  desire  to  find  a  new  and 
more  open  route.  As  early  as  1415,  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal  — 
surnamed  "the  navigator"  —  had  made  his  name  at  the  taking  of 
Ceuta,  the  southern  Pillar  of  Hercules,  from  the  Moors.  In  1418 
he  stationed  himself  on  a  rocky  promontory  at  the  extreme  south- 
west of  Portugal  and  built  his  observatory.  Studying  stars  and  maps 
year  after  year,  he  sent  ship  after  ship  down  the  African  coast, 
gradually  lifting  the  veil  from  land  and  sea.  In  1434  Cape 
Bojador  was  discovered.  In  1445  Diniz  Diaz  discovered  Cape 
Verde;  and  by  the  time  of  the  Turkish  capture  of  Constantinople 
(1453)  the  first  Portuguese  had  reached  the  Gambia.  In  1471 
the  Portuguese  flag  had  been  carried  across  the  equator;  in  1484 
Diego  Cam  reached  the  Congo;  in  1487  Bartholomew  Diaz 
rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  In  1498  Vasco  da  Gama  reached 
successively  the  island  of  Mozambique  and  the  long-sought  shores 
of  India.  Thus  the  century  which  saw  the  last  lingering  re- 
mains of  the  Roman  Empire  swallowed  up,  and  the  book  of 
the  past  finally  closed,  was  rich  with  promise.  Whilst  the  east- 
ern half  of  the  ancient  Mediterranean  world  was  merged  in 
Asia,  the  western  half,  cut  adrift  from  its  old  moorings,  turned 
its  back  on  bygone  days,  and  became  the  starting-point  for  a  magnifi- 
cent future. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  43 

lead.  Had  she  been  wise,  nothing  could  have  taken 
that  lead  from  her. 

Unfortunately  three  weapons  were  even  then  being 
forged  which,  while  centralising  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  Spanish  kings  —  and  thus  making  the  rulers  of 
Madrid,  with  their  new  and  vast  sources  of  wealth,  the 
rulers  of  Europe  —  were  destined  ultimately  to  destroy 
the  nation.  These  weapons,  because  they  are  two-edged 
swords,  merit  being  thoroughly  understood. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  succession  of  the  House 
of  Austria  to  the  Spanish  Throne,  with  all  that  that 
succession  necessarily  implied;  the  second  was  the 
reflex  action  of  the  Reformation  in  this,  the  most 
catholic  of  all  countries ;  the  third  was  the  acquisition 
of  the  riches  of  the  New  World,  unaccompanied  by  any 
corresponding  increase  of  national  energy  save  in  a 
military  sense.  Thus  the  three  destroyers  of  Spanish 
greatness  were  absolutism,  bigotry,  and  militarism  — 
national  foes  in  every  age  and  in  every  clime.  By  the 
marriage  of  Philip,  son  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  to 
Joanne,  sole  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  tradi- 
tions utterly  foreign  to  Spain  were  introduced  into  the 
country  ^  —  those  imperial  traditions  which  had  become 

^  During  the  long  reign  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  who 
abdicated  a  century  before,  the  head  of  that  house  had  united  in 
his  own  person  the  two  crowns  of  Austria  and  Spain,  which 
carried  with  them,  among  other  possessions,  the  countries  we 
now  know  as  Holland  and  Belgium,  together  with  a  preponderat- 
ing influence  in  Italy.  After  his  abdication  the  two  great  mon- 
archies of  Austria  and  Spain  were  separated;  but  though  ruled 
by  different  persons,  they  were  still  in  the  same  family,  and 
tended  toward  that  unity  of  aim  and  sympathy  which  marked 
dynastic  connections  in  that  and  the  following  century.  To  this 
bond  of  union  was  added  that  of  a  common  religion.  During 
the    century    before     the    Peace    of   Westphalia,   the    extension    of 


44         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

centred  in  the  House  of  Hapsburg  ever  since  the  ruin  of 
the  House  of  Hohenstaufen;  those  imperial  traditions 
full  of  ominous  pretensions  regarding  the  control  which 
princes  may  legitimately  exercise  over  their  subjects; 
those  imperial  traditions  which  only  a  French 
Revolution  and  the  military  blows  of  a  counter-tyrant 
such  as  Napoleon  could  completely  shatter  in  Europe. 
Grafted  on  to  a  united  people,  entrenched  in  a  shut- 
off  peninsula,  this  imperialism  soon  took  a  concrete 
form  which  was  impracticable  in  a  country  with 
open  land-frontiers,  such  as  the  old  Germanic  empire, 
and  with  numberless  petty  yet  powerful  jjrinces  to 
dispute  the  authority  of  the  overlord.  In  a  very  few 
decades  the  old  liberties  of  Spain  were  trampled  under 
foot.  The  rapid  march  of  the  Reformation  in 
Teutonic  lands  served  only  to  intensify  the  already 
dominant  note  of  clericalism  in  Spanish  Hfe,  which, 
released  from  the  secular  warfare  with  the  Moor,  made 
bigotry  and  intolerance  the  order  of  the  day,  and  soon 
so  utterly  transformed  the  ancient  spirit  of  the  Spanish 
Church,  that  its  good  qualities  were  completely  sub- 
merged in  the  false  zeal  it  now  displayed  against 
schismatics.  The  gold  and  silver  of  the  New  World 
transported  in  galleons  soon  fascinated  the  imagination 
of  all  Europe  and  seemed  inexhaustible. 

The  Spanish  monarchy,  become  all-powerful,  thanks 
to  the  devotion  of  a  population  steeped  in  traditions  of 
combat  and  adventure,  was  pleased  to  find  in  Philip  H. 

family  power,  and  the  extension  of  the  religion  professed,  were 
the  two  strongest  motives  of  political  action.  This  was  the 
period  of  the  great  religious  wars  which  arrayed  nation  against  nation, 
principality  against  principality,  and  often,  in  the  same  nation,  fac- 
tion against  faction."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  His- 
tory, Chap.  II. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  45 

the  supreme  expression  of  its  genius;  and  Spain,  fed 
by  the  riches  of  the  New  World  secured  for  her  by  a 
valiant  generation,  and  battening  on  the  carcases  of 
vanquished  European  nations,  in  many  cases  conquered 
because  they  differed  in  doctrine,  seemed  destined  to 
become  as  powerful  as  Rome  had  been. 

*  It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  in  spite  of  the  glory  which  surrounds 
the  names  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  it  was  they  who  estab- 
lished the  hateful  Inquisition  in  Spain  as  early  as  1483,  two 
Dominicans  being  the  first  judges  of  the  Holy  Office.  Mahom- 
medans  and  Jews  were  cruelly  persecuted,  and  heretics  of  all  sorts 
hunted  out.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  the  soil  of  Spain  contains 
a  malignant  germ  —  the  germ  of  intolerance  —  and  that  to  escape 
from  this  curse  will  need  something  more  than  paper  constitu- 
tions and  the  proclamation  of  the  people's  rights.  An  immense 
corps  of  educators  —  a  sanitary  corps  in  every  sense  of  the  words 
—  is  needed  to  neutralise  the  effects  of  a  pestilential  soil. 

This  is  how  Mahan  brilliantly  summarises  the  great  religious 
struggles  brought  about  by  the  Reformation :  — 

"The  main  interest  of  the  history  of  all  European  countries 
during  the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  centres  round  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  counter-  Reformation.  In  Italy  and 
Spain  Catholicism  succeeded,  not  only  in  holding  its  ground, 
but  also  in  sternly  repressing  all  opposing  beliefs.  In  France  the 
long  wars  of  religion  ended  in  a  compromise,  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
but,  on  the  whole,  victory  rested  with  the  Catholics.  In  the  Nether- 
lands the  grand  conflict  with  Spain  produced  a  division  be- 
tween the  provinces.  The  northern  States  formed  a  republic 
under  the  House  of  Orange.  The  Wallon  provinces,  more  ex- 
posed to  Romish  influence,  returned  to  the  Spanish  allegiance.  In 
England  the  Catholic  reaction  failed  altogether  owing  to  the  na- 
tional spirit  evoked  by  Spanish  intervention.  In  Sweden  the 
Jesuits  almost  accomplished  the  conversion  of  John  III.  (1568-92), 
the  second  son  of  Gustavus  Vasa;  but  national  interests  proved 
in  the  end  too  strong  for  them.  John's  son,  Sigismund,  an 
avowed  Catholic,  was  elected  King  of  Poland,  but  forfeited  the 
Swedish  crown  to  his  uncle,  Charles  IX.  Germany,  the  starting- 
point  of  the  Reformation,  was  affected  no  less  than  other  countries 
by  the  reactionary  movement.     The  Thirty  Years'  War,  to  which 


46         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

The  evils  produced  by  a  bad  government  and  a 
shameful  religion  —  for  every  government  is  bad  which 
is  despotic,  and  every  religion  is  shameful  which  is  intol- 
erant—  require  much  time  to  become  openly  manifest; 
for  it  is  well  to  remember  that  in  spite  of  the  defeat 
of  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1588  —  nearly  a  century  after 
Spain  had  attained  national  unity  —  and  the  ultimate 
loss  of  Holland,  Portugal,  and  other  territories,  as  well  as 
the  eclipse  sustained  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  Orient  by 
the  advent  of  the  Dutch,  Spain  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  was  still  mightier  than  any  other 
European  Power.  Yet  she  was  doomed;  for  by  stamp- 
ing on  liberty  she  had  stamped  on  her  own  soul  and  had 
prepared  the  way  for  the  transference  of  the  dominant 
power  in  Europe  to  France.  No  chapter  in  European 
history  is  more  interesting  than  that  which  traces  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  dominant  power,  and  which,  from  the 
sixteenth  century  onwards,  supplies  the  keynote  of  all 
diplomacy.  For,  in  spite  of  the  doctrine  of  the  balance 
of  power,  invented  in  a  more  sophisticated  age,  a 
balance  requires  a  pivot  on  which  to  swing;  and  that 
pivot  is  the  dominant  power.  For  four  hundred  years 
there  has  been  in  Europe  at  one  time  but  one  leading 
Power  —  though  for  the  position  of  that  Power  to 
emerge  clear  and  unmistakable  has  sometimes  needed 
decades.  To-day,  as  four  hundred  years  ago,  the  same 
law  applies.  From  Spain,  the  sceptre  of  power  passed 
to  France. 

In  France  the  methods  pursued  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  absolute  power  were  not  very  different  from  those 

this  ultimately  gave  rise,  proved  a  more  desolating  and  extensive 
conflict  than  any  of  the  other  religious  wars."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power 
upon  History,  Chap.  II. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  47 

used  in  Spain,  though  the  conditions  were  necessarily 
not  the  same.  Once  again  was  it  shown  that  the  prime 
note  of  absolutism  can  only  be  a  disastrous  illiberalism, 
which  must  bring  about  a  downfall  in  very  few  genera- 
tions. In  Richelieu,  allied  to  Mary  of  Medicis, 
guardians  of  the  infant  Louis  XIII. ,  the  loose-jointed 
French  monarchy  found  the  divine  instrument  which 
introduced  imperialism.  By  the  conversion  of  the 
territorial  nobility  into  a  race  of  courtiers  not  only  was 
French  provincialism  largely  swept  away,  but  France 
became  politically  great. ^ 

^  It  is  best  again  to  quote  Mahan  regarding  the  rise  of 
France :  — 

"It  was  natural  that  in  France,  one  of  the  greatest  sufferers 
from  rehgious  passions,  owing  to  the  number  and  character  of 
the  Protestant  minority,  this  reaction  should  first  and  most 
markedly  be  seen.  Placed  between  Spain  and  the  German 
States,  among  which  Austria  stood  foremost  without  a  rival, 
internal  union  and  checks  upon  the  power  of  the  House  of 
Austria  were  necessities  of  political  existence.  Happily,  Providence 
raised  up  to  her  in  close  succession  two  great  rulers,  Henry  IV.  and 
Richelieu,  men  in  whom  religion  fell  short  of  bigotry,  and  who, 
when  forced  to  recognise  it  in  the  sphere  of  politics,  did  so 
as  masters  and  not  as  slaves.  Under  them  French  statesmanship 
received  a  guidance,  which  Richelieu  formulated  as  a  tradition, 
and  which  moved  on  the  following  general  lines:  (i)  Internal 
union  of  the  kingdom,  appeasing  or  putting  down  religious  strife 
and  centralising  authority  in  the  king;  (2)  Resistance  to  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Austria,  which  actually  and  necessarily  carried 
with  it  alliance  with  Protestant  German  States  and  with  Hol- 
land; (3)  Extension  of  the  boundaries  of  France  to  the  east- 
ward, at  the  expense  mainly  of  Spain,  which  then  possessed 
not  only  the  present  Belgium,  but  other  provinces  long  since 
incorporated  with  France;  and  (4)  The  creation  and  development 
of  a  great  sea-power,  adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom, 
and  intended  specially  to  make  head  against  France's  hereditary 
enemy,  England;  for  which  end  again  the  alliance  with  Holland 
was  to  be  kept  in  view.     Such  were  the   broad  outlines  of  policy 


48         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

The  condition  of  France,  previous  to  the  reign  of  the 
weak  Louis  XIII.,  had  been  somewhat  remarkable. 
Although  one  of  the  oldest  monarchies  in  Europe,  the 
powerful  territorial  nobility  of  France  had  often 
directly  challenged  the  authority  of  the  throne,  and 
had  so  weakened  that  authority  that  at  times  it  only 
extended  a  few  leagues  beyond  Paris.  Thus  France, 
though  nominally  a  kingdom  such  as  England,  was  very 
different  in  point  of  fact;  actually  it  may  be  said,  in- 
deed, to  have  resembled,  in  the  diversity  of  its  de  facto 
rulers,  the  so-called  German  Empire,  where  petty 
princes  frequently  disputed  the  nominal  overlordship  of 
the  emperor.  Many  causes  contributed  to  this  condi- 
tion: none  more  than  France's  peculiar  geographical 
position.  The  long  and  bitter  contest  between  England 
and  France  during  the  middle  ages,  in  spite  of  its  happy 
termination  for  the  French  kings,  had  devastated  the 
country  and  weakened  respect  for  all  authority  which 
could  not  make  itself  instantly  felt  through  the  stern 
use  of  the  sword.  The  nobles  of  France,  possessed  of 
countless  feudal  privileges  and  dwelling  in  the  utmost 
state  on  their  own  domains,  felt  none  of  that  respect  for 
the  Crown  which  had  existed  in  England  from  days  far 
anterior  to  the  Norman  conquest.  Though  the  origin 
of  their  privileges  was  much  the  same  as  in  England,  a 
gradual  development  had  carried  the  French  nobles  to  a 
position  no  English  populace  would  have  tolerated  in 
their  peers.     Holding  the  common  people  in  contempt, 

laid  down  by  statesmen  in  the  front  of  genius  for  the  guidance  of 
that  country  whose  people  have,  not  without  cause,  claimed  to  be 
the  most  complete  exponent  of  European  civilisation,  foremost  in 
the  march  of  progress,  combining  political  advance  with  individual 
development."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History,  Chap.  II. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  49 

their  insolence  regarding  the  ordinary  rights  of  humanity 
went  to  lengths  which  are  not  readily  to  be  believed,  did 
not  documentary  proofs  exist.  Thus  it  is  once  more 
advertised  that  the  remote  causes  of  progress  and  decay 
must  be  sought  for  in  what  may  be  called  original 
territorial  conditions. 

The  problem  that  Richelieu  had  then  to  solve  was 
first  to  destroy  this  independent  power  which  still 
openly  challenged  even  that  of  the  throne.  The 
methods  which  he  adopted  showed  his  masterly  know- 
ledge of  men.  By  a  variety  of  manoeuvres  he  suc- 
ceeded in  attracting  the  great  nobles  in  increasing 
numbers  to  the  brilliant  courts  of  France;  and 
gradually  making  them  more  and  more  dependent  on 
their  royal  master,  in  a  generation  he  brought  about  a 
political  metamorphosis  of  the  first  importance.  Ex- 
hausting their  fortunes  in  their  attempts  to  outrival  one 
another,  the  nobles  of  France  soon  found  that  kingly 
favour  was  necessary  for  their  continued  existence.* 
Now  irrevocably  divorced  from  their  accustomed  life 
of  rural  magnificence,  with  their  estates  mortgaged  for 
huge  sums  on  which  they  had  to  pay  exorbitant 
interest,  they  soon  looked  on  absence  from  the  capital 
as  the  most  hateful  of  exiles;    and  thus  by  the  time 

*  The  economic  crisis  which  had  already  arisen  in  Europe, 
through  the  enormous  influx  of  gold  and  silver  from  the  New 
World,  as  well  as  by  the  wealth  brought  from  Africa  and  Asia, 
was  very  far-reaching  in  its  effect  on  the  privileged  classes.  A 
very  general  rise  in  values  and  in  the  standard  of  living  occurred, 
the  landowners  being,  as  usual,  the  first  to  suffer  from  this. 
Unfortunately  it  is  only  in  chance  remarks  made  by  chroniclers  living 
in  these  times  that  the  great  politico-social  influence  of  this  change 
is  seen;  but  several  Venetian  ambassadors,  with  the  shrewdness 
natural  in  a  trading  Republic,  have  told  how  sorely  this  revolution 
pressed  on  great  continental  landowners. 


50         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

of  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  a 
new  France  existed,  because  the  great  nobles  had  been 
transformed  into  great  courtiers  and  nothing  else. 

The  immediate  result  was  that  French  imperialism 
was  not  only  possible  but  quickly  grew  in  a  remarkable 
manner;  and  soon  the  boundaries  of  this  central 
kingdom  became  the  Alps,  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  Rhine. 
Just  as  the  Court  of  Philip  II.,  in  the  previous  century, 
had  disposed  of  the  destinies  of  Europe,  so  now  did  the 
Court  at  Versailles  display  a  similar  mastery.  The 
power  of  the  empire  across  the  Rhine  — the  phantom 
Holy  Roman  Empire  —  finally  undermined  by  the 
Thirty  Years*  War,^  which  had  been  fed  by  the  astute 
diplomacy  of  Richelieu  —  was  so  lowered,  that  until  the 
nineteenth  century  the  Teutonic  races  ceased  to  have 
general  political  importance.  For  though  the  genius 
of  Frederick  the  Great  succeeded  later  in  creating  the 

^  "The  great  result  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  of  the 
religious  differences  from  which  it  had  arisen,  was  the  complete 
annihilation  of  German  unity.  The  name  of  the  Empire  was 
retained,  but  it  had  no  longer  any  practical  reality.  Ferdinand  II. 
had  identified  the  imperial  authority  with  the  suppression  of 
Protestantism.  Protestantism  survived  the  danger,  and  the  result 
was  the  destruction  of  the  authority  which  had  menaced  it. 
Germany  became  a  loose  federation  in  which  the  territorial 
princes  were  all-powerful.  The  right  to  determine  the  religion 
of  their  subjects,  which  had  been  admitted  in  the  peace  of 
Augsburg,  was  confirmed  in  that  of  Westphalia.  The  Imperial 
Diet  continued  its  meetings,  but  it  became  a  congress  of  pleni- 
potentiaries. One  great  blessing  the  peace  brought  with  it, 
the  absolute  termination  of  those  religious  quarrels  which  had  pro- 
duced such  havoc  and  misery,  and  which  were  ended  less  by  agree- 
ment than  by  exhaustion."  .  .  . 

"The  Treaty  of  Nystadt  finally  settled  the  great  question  of 
the  supremacy  in  Northern  Europe.  The  position  which  the 
disunion   of  Germany  and   the  genius  of  Gustavus  Adolphus   had 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  51 

Prussian  State  in  the  teeth  of  French  opposition,  until 
1866  and  1870  Prussia  was  internationally  negligible. 
In  France  first  occurred  on  a  formidable  scale  that  rise 
of  mere  talent  to  a  position  of  high  importance  which 
soon  became  a  new  feature  in  European  Hfe. 

The  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  ushered  in  in  this  magnificent 
manner,  and  yet  sapping  the  Hfe  of  the  nation  to  con- 
tribute to  the  glory  of  kings,  blotted  out  the  memory 
of  dominant  Spain.  Colbert,  one  of  the  greatest  of 
many  great  French  statesmen,  controlled  the  finances. 
Louvois,  never  surpassed  even  by  Napoleon  as  an 
organiser  and  administrator  of  armies,  evolved  a  vast 
military  machine  which  assured  success  in  war.  The 
French  infantry,  trained  by  an  officer  whose  very  name 
has  passed  into  every  language  —  Martinet  —  surpassed 
even  the  famous  Spanish  infantry  of  Alva.  Vauban, 
the  greatest  of  military  engineers,  carried  the  art  of 
fortifying  to  a  degree  of  perfection  never  before  known. 
The  creation  of  a  powerful  fleet  of  one  hundred  ships 
of  the  line,  manned  by  60,000  disciplined  sailors, 
reduced  maritime  England  to  a  position  of  extraordinary 
inferiority,  and  completed  the  disrating  of  Holland  as  a 
sea-power;  and  British  merchant-men  were  no  safer  in 
the  English  Channel  than  on  the  high  seas.  Thus 
France,  borrowing  from  Spain  the  new  idea  of  an 
absolute  monarchy  founded  on  militarism,  materially 
assisted  in  rendering  still  more  antiquated  and  valueless 
the  old  theocratic  idea  of  kingship,  which  during  previous 

won  for  Sweden  was  henceforth  transferred  to  Russia.  The  only 
thing  which  to  some  extent  neutraHsed  the  results  of  the  transfer 
was  the  as  yet  almost  unnoticed  development  of  Prussia  into 
a  State  of  first-rate  importance."  —  Lodge's  Student's  Modern 
Europe. 


52         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

ages  had  been  almost  unchallenged.  Henceforth  kings 
to  be  kings  had  really  to  rule.  Though  the  rage  of 
ambition,  which  spurred  Louis  XIV.  to  develop  his 
grandiose  schemes  and  to  interfere  in  the  Spanish 
succession,  ended  in  ruin  because  it  aroused  universal 
concern  and  arrayed  half  Europe  against  him,  the  lesson 
he  taught  travelled  far.^  Though  from  the  date  of  the 
famous  battle  of  Blenheim,  fought  in  1704,  it  was  amply 
clear  that  fortune  was  turning  against  Louis,  so  strong 
was  this  centralised  militarism,  which  he  had  erected, 
that  it  was  not  until  17 13  and  17 14  that  those  far-reach- 
ing treaties  which  are  comprehended  under  the  general 
title  of  the  "Peace  of  Utrecht"  were  concluded,  and 
France  —  having  single-handed  defied  Europe  —  was 
proclaimed  no  longer  the  arbiter  of  European  destinies. 
Now  it  is  important  here  to  note  that  France, 
at   the   turning-point   in   her   history  which   the   reign 

^  "During  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  amid 
all  the  strife  of  arms  and  diplomacy,  there  had  been  clearly  fore- 
seen the  coming  of  an  event  which  would  raise  new  and  great  issues. 
This  was  the  failure  of  the  direct  royal  line  in  that  branch 
of  the  House  of  Austria  which  was  then  on  the  Spanish  throne;  and 
the  issues  to  be  determined  when  the  present  king,  infirm  both 
in  body  and  mind,  should  die,  were  whether  the  new  mon- 
arch was  to  be  taken  from  the  House  of  Bourbon  or  from  the 
Austrian  family  in  Germany;  and  whether,  in  either  event,  the 
sovereign  thus  raised  to  the  throne  should  succeed  to  the  entire  in- 
heritance, the  Empire  of  Spain,  or  some  partition  of  that  vast 
inheritance  be  made  in  the  interests  of  the  balance  of  European  power. 
But  this  balance  of  power  was  no  longer  understood  in  the 
narrow  sense  of  continental  possessions;  the  effect  of  the  new 
arrangements  upon  commerce,  shipping,  and  the  control  both  of 
the  ocean  and  the  Mediterranean,  was  closely  looked  to.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  two  sea-powers  and  the  nature  of  their  interests  were 
becoming  more  evident."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon 
History,  Chap.  V. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  53 

of  Louis  XIV.  evidently  constitutes,  deliberately  con- 
centrated her  energies  on  a  false  objective  —  that  is, 
on  v^inning  the  acknowledged  hegemony  of  Europe  by 
a  policy  of  conquest,  w^hen  such  a  policy  had  become 
impossible  owning  to  the  very  general  growth  in  the 
sense  of  nationality,  and  to  the  universal  growth  of 
armies  armed  with  modern  arms.^     Herein  lay  her  fatal 

*  Two  passages  from  Mahan  may  here  be  quoted :  — 

(a)  "The  changes  effected  by  this  long  war  and  sanctioned  by 
the  peace,  neglecting  details  of  lesser  or  passing  importance,  may 
be  stated  as  follows:  i.  The  House  of  Bourbon  was  settled  on  the 
Spanish  throne,  and  the  Spanish  empire  retained  its  West  In- 
dian and  American  possessions;  the  purpose  of  William  III. 
against  her  dominion  there  was  frustrated  when  England  under- 
took to  support  the  Austrian  Prince,  and  so  fastened  the  greater  part 
of  her  naval  force  to  the  Mediterranean.  2.  The  Spanish  em- 
pire lost  its  possessions  in  the  Netherlands,  Gelderland  going 
to  the  new  kingdom  of  Prussia  and  Belgium  to  the  emperor; 
the  Spanish  Netherlands  thus  became  the  Austrian  Netherlands. 
3.  Spain  lost  also  the  principal  islands  of  the  Mediterranean; 
Sardinia  being  given  to  Austria,  Minorca  with  its  fine  harbour  to 
Great  Britain,  and  Sicily  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  4.  Spain  lost 
also  her  Italian  possessions,  Milan  and  Naples  going  to  the 
emperor.  Such,  in  the  main,  were  the  results  to  Spain  of  the 
fight  over  the  succession  to  her  throne." 

(b)  "The  demands  made  by  England,  as  conditions  of  peace  in 
171 1,  showed  her  to  have  become  a  sea  power  in  the  purest 
sense  of  the  word,  not  only  in  fact,  but  also  in  her  own  consciousness. 
She  required  that  the  same  person  should  never  be  king  both 
of  France  and  Spain;  that  a  barrier  of  fortified  towns  should 
be  granted  her  allies,  Holland  and  Germany,  as  a  defensive  line  against 
France;  that  French  conquests  from  her  allies  should  be  re- 
stored; and  for  herself  she  demanded  the  formal  cession  of  Gibral- 
tar and  Port  Mahon,  whose  strategic  and  maritime  value  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  destruction  of  the  port  of  Dunkirk,  the 
home-nest  of  the  privateers  that  preyed  on  English  commerce, 
the  cession  of  the  French  colonies  of  Newfoundland,  Hudson's  Bay, 
and   Nova   Scotia,   the   last   of  which    she   held    at   that   time,    and 


54         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

mistake  —  a  mistake  which  Napoleon  hoped  to  repair  a 
century  later  with  his  dreams  of  Eastern  empires.  But 
it  was  too  late.  Instead  of  aspiring  to  the  dominion 
of  the  outer  world  —  the  world  of  colour  which  had 
already  been  clearly  mapped  by  the  men  of  the  Iberian 
peninsula,  and  which  she  could  have  easily  wrested  from 
Spaniard  and  Portuguese  —  France  chose  rather  to  grasp 
at  the  laurels  of  European  conquest;  and  in  so  doing 
she  missed  her  destiny.  By  this  false  policy  she  gave 
time  to  her  historic  rival  —  England  —  to  gather  strength 
and  to  enter  successfully  into  a  struggle  in  which  little 
was  really  in  the  favour  of  the  island- Power.  One  spe- 
cial advantage,  and  one  only,  did  England  possess,  and 
this  differentiated  her  sharply  from  all  other  European 
Powers.  Secure  in  her  own  islands,  she  was  able  to  issue 
forth  suddenly,  and  by  throwing  her  weight  on  the  side 
which  seemed  to  her  the  most  reasonable,  to  adjust  the 
balance  of  power  so  that  it  never  weighed  down  too  far. 
From  the  days  of  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  it 
is  this  priceless  advantage  which  has  given  her  the 
exceptional  position  she  still  enjoys.  Unlike  the  Powers 
of  the  Continent,  which  must  carry  out  their  defensive 
policy  by  massing  ever-ready  land-armies,  for  England 
such  armies  are  only  for  offence  —  the  sea  being  her  de- 
fence. It  was  therefore  possible  for  her  gradually  to 
grow  in  power,  because  every  augmentation  in  her  defen- 
sive strength  —  her  fleets  —  unconsciously  impelled  her 
to  seek,  not  expansion  in  Europe,  but  expansion  overseas. 
Thus  the  rise  of  England  —  the  purely  maritime  Power 

finally,  treaties  of  commerce  with  France  and  Spain,  and  the 
concession  of  the  monopoly  of  the  slave  trade  with  Spanish 
America,  known  as  the  Asiento,  which  Spain  had  given  to  France 
in    1 701."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History y  Chap.  V. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  55 

—  forced  international  politics  along  a  different  road. 
That  road  was  the  sea. 

The  ruin  of  France's  imperial  policy  in  Europe  was 
therefore  the  signal  for  a  most  momentous  change;  and 
from  now  on,  the  struggle  for  real  power,  after  having 
been  confined  to  the  narrow  limits  of  a  relatively  small 
continent,  peopled  by  the  same  races,  was  to  be 
transferred  to  wider  spheres ;  and  under  tropical  suns,  in 
lonely  forests,  on  great  rivers,  and  on  every  open  sea, 
the  nations  seek  for  final  mastery.  From  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  European  history,  from  being 
more  or  less  provincial,  becomes  truly  international 
history  or  world-history.  Events  follow  each  other  in 
rapid  succession;  one  nation  displaces  another  in  con- 
tested regions;   new  forces  arise;    and  we  pass  from  a 

^  "We  have  now  reached  the  opening  of  a  series  of  great  wars, 
destined  to  last  with  short  intervals  of  peace  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  and  having,  amid  many  misleading  details,  one  broad 
characteristic  distinguishing  them  from  previous  and  from  many 
subsequent  wars.  This  strife  embraced  the  four  quarters  of  the  world, 
and  that  not  only  as  side  issues  here  and  there,  the  main  struggle 
being  in  Europe;  for  the  great  questions  to  be  determined  by 
it,  concerning  the  world's  history,  were  the  dominion  of  the 
sea  and  the  control  of  distant  countries,  the  possession  of  colonies, 
and,  dependent  upon  these,  the  increase  of  wealth.  Singularly 
enough  it  is  not  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  long  contest  that  great 
fleets  are  found  engaging,  and  the  struggle  transferred  to  its  proper 
field,  the  sea.  The  action  of  sea-power  is  evident  enough,  the 
issue  plainly  indicated  from  the  beginning;  but  for  a  long  time  there 
is  no  naval  warfare  of  any  consequence,  because  the  truth  is  not  recog- 
nised by  the  French  Government.  The  movement  toward  colonial 
extension  by  France  is  wholly  popular,  though  illustrated  by 
a  few  great  names;  the  attitude  of  the  rulers  is  cold  and  mis- 
trustful; hence  came  neglect  of  the  navy,  a  foregone  conclu- 
sion of  defeat  on  the  main  question,  and  the  destruction  for 
the  time  of  her  sea-power."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea  Power 
upon    History,    Chap.  VII. 


56         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

dreary  old  world,  overcrowded  with  unimportant  events, 
to  a  new  world,  in  which  nothing  of  the  traditional 
provincialism  of  a  dozen  centuries  is  to  be  discerned. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  ultimate  consequences  of 
those  daring  voyages,  undertaken  by  the  early  navigators 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  were  never 
dreamed  of  by  their  unsophisticated  generations.  The 
Turkish  capture  of  Constantinople,  and  the  virtual  clos- 
ing of  those  trade-routes  to  the  East  which  had  been  in 
growing  use  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Crusades,  urgently 
demanded  some  remedy;  but  from  Columbus  even 
down  to  the  days  of  Cook,  no  single  navigator  clearly 
saw  that  the  immense  change  which  was  thus  wrought 
in  European  relations  by  the  gradual  transfer  of  power 
from  the  land  to  the  sea  must  infallibly  alter  the  whole 
course  of  European  history.  It  was  ocean-navigation  — 
the  issuing-out  of  Europe  on  to  the  vast  waters  of  the 
Atlantic,  the  Pacific,  and  the  Indian  oceans  —  which 
destroyed  forever  old  relations  and  old  conditions. 
Hitherto  commercial  contact,  just  as  the  great  shocks 
of  war,  had  been  achieved  on  land  or  on  land-locked 
seas;  now  the  decisive  factor  had  become  the  open  sea 
—  the    ocean.*     This  is  the  reason,  as  Macaulay  well 

^  It  is  well  to  insert  here  two  extracts  from  Mahan  to  emphasise 
(a)  the  value  of  sea-power  as  a  war-machine,  (b)  the  position  to  which 
England  was  gradually  rising. 

(a)  "The  noiseless,  steady,  exhausting  pressure  with  which  sea- 
power  acts,  cutting  off  the  resources  of  the  enemy  while  maintain- 
ing its  own,  supporting  war  in  scenes  where  it  does  not  appear 
itself,  or  appears  only  in  the  background,  and  striking  open  blows 
at  rare  intervals,  though  lost  to  most,  is  emphasised  to  the  care- 
ful reader  by  the  events  of  this  war  and  of  the  half-century 
that  followed.  The  overwhelming  sea-power  of  England  was  the 
determining  factor  in  European  history  during  the  period  men- 
tioned, maintaining  war  abroad  while  keeping  its  own  people  in  pros- 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  57 

remarks,  why  Napoleon,  though  he  appeared  mightier 
than  any  other  man  since  the  time  of  Charlemagne, 
possessed  an  empire  truly  less  grand  than  that  of 
Philip  11.  of  Spain.  His  dominion  was  strictly  Hmited 
to  land ;  his  empire  a  miraculous  tour  de  force  —  an 
attempted  revival  of  a  state  of  affairs  that  was  an 
evident  anachronism.  Even  transcendent  genius  cannot 
efface  the  extraordinary  results  of  three  centuries  of 
transoceanic  endeavour;  and  at  the  close  of  the  eight- 
eenth and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  sea- 
power  had  already  risen  to  be  that  dominant  factor  in 
European  life  which  it  still  remains,  because  of  the  vital 
economic  relations  which  it  had  established  with  so 
many  distant  regions  of  the  world.  Spain,  because  she 
had  been  the  first  Power  to  employ  extra-European 
aids,  had  been  the  first  Power  in  Europe  to  rise  supreme. 
Spain  could  have  remained  great  had  she  remained 
liberal.     She  it  was  who  definitely  upset  the  received 

perity  at  home,  and  building  up  the  great  empire  which  is  now  seen; 
but  from  its  very  greatness  its  action,  by  escaping  opposition,  escapes 
attention." 

{b)  "The  sea-power  of  England,  therefore,  was  not  merely  in 
the  great  navy,  with  which  we  too  commonly  and  exclusively  asso- 
ciate it;  France  had  had  such  a  navy  in  1688,  and  it  shrivelled 
away  like  a  leaf  in  the  fire.  Neither  was  it  in  a  prosperous 
commerce  alone;  a  few  years  after  the  date  at  which  we  have  ar- 
rived, the  commerce  of  France  took  on  fair  proportions,  but 
the  first  blast  of  war  swept  it  off  the  seas  as  the  navy  d  Cromwell 
had  once  swept  that  of  Holland.  It  was  in  the  union  of  the  two, 
carefully  fostered,  that  England  made  the  gain  of  sea-power  over 
and  beyond  all  other  States;  and  this  gain  is  distinctly  associated 
with  and  dates  from  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession.  Before 
that  war  England  was  one  of  the  sea-powers;  after  it  she  was  the 
sea-power,  without  any  second.  This  power  also  she  held  alone, 
unshared  by  friend  and  unchecked  by  foe."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power 
upon  History,  Chap.  V. 


58         THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

opinion  of  the  middle  ages  —  that  Europe  was  all  in  all; 
that  the  mediaeval  Papacy  and  the  mediaeval  Empire 
were  to  remain  permanent  and  all-embracing  edifices, 
contrasted  with  which  other  European  States  were 
nothing  but  political  enclaves}  France,  having  out- 
rivalled  Spain  and  the  Austro-Spanish  Hapsburgs,  had 
she  followed  her  true  path,  could  never  have  been 
rivalled  and  eclipsed  by  England  in  the  rapid  manner 
which  now  occurred. 

It  is  important  here  to  note  that  this  new  factor  was 
introduced  primarily  by  the  development  of  the 
American  Continent  and  the  adjacent  island-groups,  and 
by  nothing  else.  Without  America  and  her  islands 
that   development  would    never   have   then   occurred.^ 

^  "The  peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  closed  the  long  series 
of  wars  which  had  commenced  with  the  accession  of  Charles  V.  to 
the  empire  in  15 19.  It  marks  an  epoch  in  the  international 
relations  of  the  European  States.  France  had  succeeded  in 
its  task  of  resisting  the  formation  of  a  Hapsburg  monarchy 
which  threatened  the  independence  of  Europe.  Germany  and 
Spain  are  henceforward  separated.  For  some  time  after  this 
religious  rather  than  political  differences  divide  Europe;  and  when 
something  like  the  old  rivalry  re-commences  at  the  close  of 
the  century,  it  takes  the  form  of  a  national  duel  between  Spain 
and    France. 

"For  forty  years  the  dominant  personality  in  Europe  had  been 
Charles  V.  His  disappearance  necessarily  effected  a  great  change. 
European  history  loses  its  unity  when  it  ceases  to  group  itself 
round  one  central  figure.  With  the  great  emperor  vanished 
all  prospect  of  a  compromise  between  the  two  rival  faiths.  Hence- 
forth Roman  Catholicism  hardens  itself  in  its  remaining  strongholds, 
and  prepares  not  only  to  repress  all  attempts  at  internal  change,  but 
also  to  carry  on  a  determined  war  against  the  hostile  Protestant  sep- 
aratists."—  Lodge:    Modern  Europe,  Chap.  VI. 

*  If  we  take  the  single  example  of  the  island  of  San  Domingo  — 
only  part  of  which  belonged  to  France  —  records  show  that  the 
French    commerce    of    the    eighteenth    century    with    this     island 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  59 

Whilst  the  half-way  houses  on  the  coasts  of  Africa,  and 
the  trading-posts  in  the  East  Indies  and  in  the  archipel- 
agoes of  the  Further  East,  soon  furnished  great  sources 
of  wealth  to  companies  of  traders  who  had  established 
their  depots  from  Cape  Verde  to  Canton  and  now 
covered  the  seas  with  their  fleets  of  merchantmen,  that 
such  a  trade  existed  was  not  of  supreme  importance  to 
Europe. 

But  with  the  two  Americas  it  was  diflperent.  Here 
was  no  question  of  trading-posts;  of  forts  built  to  serve 
as  bases  from  which  to  conduct  politico-commercial 
intercourse;  of  slave-depots.  Here  was  a  question  of 
real  empire.  In  the  Americas  the  white  races  took  per- 
manent root,  and  by  so  doing  completely  altered  Europe's 
destinies.  The  contests  on  the  Atlantic,  waged  because 
of  this  wide  dispersal  of  these  dominant  races,  and  the 
fierce  rivalries  which  sprang  therefrom,  soon  profoundly 

maintained  no  less  than  sixteen  hundred  French  vessels  manned  by 
twenty-seven  thousand  sailors;  while  as  late  as  1789  —  the  year 
of  the  French  Revolution,  when  Colonial  France  was  elsewhere 
in  decay  —  French  exports  from  this  island  amounted  to  no 
less  than  250,000,000  francs  and  the  imports  to  189,000,000 
francs,  a  total  trade  of  ;^i  7,560,000  sterling.  It  is  very  doubtful  if 
the  entire  trade  of  Great  Britain  at  this  period  amounted  to  more  than 
thrice  this  figure. 

Here  it  is  useful  to  call  attention  to  the  well-known  fact  that 
so  little  was  political  geography  understood  even  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  ago  that  it  was  generally  held  that  the  West  Indies  were 
really  more  important  and  more  valuable  than  the  vast  unde- 
veloped stretches  of  the  Northern  American  continent.  Thus 
did  it  happen  that  the  evanescent  riches  of  the  West  Indian 
Islands  —  the  sugar,  the  spices,  the  rum  —  were  confounded  with 
real  riches,  which  can  only  be  free  men.  Even  in  the  eighteenth 
century  so  little  was  political  science  understood  that  in  the 
struggle  between  the  nations  the  glitter  of  gold  formed  the  main 
lure. 


60         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

influenced  the  march  of  events  from  Lisbon  to  Moscow, 
and  invested  such  contests  with  world-wide  significance. 
The  rest  of  the  globe  —  the  world  of  coloured  men  — 
was  still  asleep,  save  where  there  was  fitful  contact  with 
the  white  world.  And  just  because  of  this  happy 
circumstance  —  because  Asia  and  Africa  were  quiescent 
—  Europe  marched  forward  with  the  stride  of  a  giant. 

As  early  as  the  seventeenth  century  all  the  five  great 
seafaring  nations  of  Europe  —  Portugal,  Spain,  Holland, 
France,  and  England  —  had  important  stakes  in  Amer- 
ica, and  all  were  therefore  directly  interested  in  this  vital 
question.  But  Holland,  ruined  by  European  warfare, 
was  already  of  little  account ;  and  Portugal,  having  been 
once  made  the  vassal  of  Spain  and  being  very  small, 
was  also  negligible.  Thus  by  the  eighteenth  century 
there  were  three  rivals  and  only  three;  and  the  history 
of  the  wavering  fortunes  of  these  three  becomes  largely 
the  history  of  Europe.  The  great  struggle,  which  was 
to  have  such  a  lasting  effect  on  the  march  of  events 
everywhere,  was  fought  in  regions  which  are  comprised 
in  a  map  which  need  only  include  the  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Western  Mediterranean.  It  was  a  sea- 
struggle,  to  which  the  extraordinary  series  of  land-wars 
which  raged  in  Europe  from  1689  to  1763  ^  was  only 

^  These  conflicts  continued  with  very  little  intermission  from 
the  year  of  the  expulsion  of  the  House  of  Stuart  in  1689  to  the 
formal  peace  with  France  and  the  cession  of  Canada  by  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  in  1763.  The  first  of  these  four  wars  —  waged 
from  1689  to  1697  —  was  a  contest  in  which  the  newly  elected 
sovereign  William  III.  vindicated  British  independence  of  for- 
eign control  against  the  king  of  France.  The  second  —  the 
war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  waged  from  1702  to  1713  —  settled 
the  great  effort  of  Louis  XIV.  to  become  predominant  in  Eu- 
rope. The  third  —  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  waged 
from  1739  to  1748  —  was  the  one  in  which  England  was  the  least 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  61 

an  unimportant  accompaniment,  so  far  as  the  destinies 
of  the  New  World  were  concerned.  This  struggle 
clearly  proclaimed  the  rapid  growth  of  a  New  Europe 
and  of  a  new  balance  of  power.  For  England  the  real 
struggle  was  never  in  Europe  itself;  for  her  it  was  a 
matter  of  life  and  death  who  was  to  be  dominant  be- 
yond Europe.  Her  insular  position  permitted  her  to 
concentrate  her  strength  on  her  true  objective,  which 
was  to  drive  her  rivals  from  all  distant  seas.  And  thus, 
very  slowly  and  very  painfully,  in  the  face  of  the  greatest 
odds,  England  definitely  displaced  France.* 

concerned,  but  which  had  necessitated  her  taking  part  because  of 
her  conflict  with  Spain  in  the  New  World,  where  British  vessels  were 
attempting  to  break  down  the  old  Spanish  monopoly.  The 
fourth  and  last  contest  —  the  Seven  Years'  War,  waged  from  1756 
to  1763  —  was  one  in  which  England  assisted  the  efforts  of  Prussia 
against  the  most  formidable  coalition  which  had  yet  arisen  in 
Europe,  the  coalition  of  France,  Austria,  and  Russia. 

^  It  is  necessary  to  quote  Mahan  again,  since  he  advances  his  argu- 
ments as  few  men  can  do :  — 

"Instead  of  concentrating  against  England,  France  began 
another  continental  war,  this  time  with  a  new  and  extraordinary 
alliance.  The  Empress  of  Austria,  working  on  the  religious 
superstitions  of  the  king  and  upon  the  anger  of  the  king's  mis- 
tress, who  was  piqued  at  sarcasms  uttered  against  her  by  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  drew  France  into  an  alliance  with  Austria  against 
Prussia.  This  alliance  was  further  joined  by  Russia,  Sweden, 
and  Poland.  The  empress  urged  that  the  two  Roman  Catho- 
lic Powers  should  unite  to  take  Silesia  away  from  a  Protes- 
tant king,  and  expressed  her  willingness  to  give  to  France  a 
part  of  her  possessions  in  the  Netherlands,  which  France  had  always 
desired. 

"Frederick  the  Great,  learning  the  combination  against  him, 
instead  of  waiting  for  it  to  develop,  put  his  armies  in  motion  and  in- 
vaded Saxony,  whose  ruler  was  also  King  of  Poland.  This 
movement,  in  October,  1756,  began  the  Seven  Years*  War;  which, 
like  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  but  not  to  the  same 
extent,   drew  some  of  the  contestants  off  from  the  original   cause 


62         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

The  riches  drawn  by  Spain  from  the  New  World 
have  engaged  at  the  hands  of  historians  a  far  greater 
share  of  attention  than  they  deserve,  save  from  the 
strictly  economic  point  of  view;  for  though  some  mines 
in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  gave  fabulous  returns,  as 
a  matter  of  fact  they  only  served  to  enrich  temporarily 
the  Spanish  Court  and  a  few  grandees,  whilst  indirectly 
impoverishing  for  a  long  term  not  only  Spain  but  all 
Europe  by  upsetting  all  the  old  standards  of  values. 
Spanish  commerce  was  virtually  a  State  enterprise; 
ordinary  traders  had  no  interest  in  those  galleons  which 
romance  has  filled  with  such  inexhaustible  supplies  of 
gold  and  silver  and  which  served  only  to  sap  the 
vitality  of  a  brave  people.  Her  empire  was  an  empire 
based  on  false  conceptions.  But  with  the  Atlantic 
possessions  of  both  France  and  England  it  was  very 
different;  for  the  colonies  of  both  these  Powers  had 
grown  immensely  wealthy  from  the  trade  of  the  planta- 
tions with  which  they  were  covered,  and  from  the 
shipping  which  was  nurtured  in  their  ports.     France, 

of  difference.  But  while  France,  having  already  on  hand  one 
large  quarrel  with  her  neighbour  across  the  Channel,  was  thus 
needlessly  entering  upon  another  struggle  with  the  avowed  end 
of  building  up  that  Austrian  empire  which  a  wiser  policy  had 
long  striven  to  humble,  England  this  time  saw  clearly  where 
her  true  interests  lay.  Making  the  continental  war  subsidiary, 
she  turned  her  efforts  upon  the  sea  and  the  colonies;  at  the 
same  time  supporting  Frederick  both  with  money  and  cordial 
sympathy  in  the  war  for  the  defence  of  his  kingdom,  which 
so  seriously  diverted  and  divided  the  efforts  of  France.  Eng- 
land thus  had  really  but  one  war  on  hand.  In  the  same  year 
the  direction  of  the  struggle  was  taken  from  the  hands  of  a 
weak  ministry  and  given  to  those  of  the  bold  and  ardent  William 
Pitt,  who  retained  his  office  till  1761,  by  which  time  the  ends  of  the 
war  had  practically  been  secured."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon 
History,  Chap.  VIII. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  63 

having  the  richer  islands,  had  perhaps  drawn  home 
greater  wealth  during  the  time  when  her  commerce 
filled  the  ports  of  Europe;  but  in  another  important 
particular  she  was  already  beaten  before  the  armed 
struggle  began. 

For  although  French  commerce  and  French  shipping 
filled  the  Atlantic,  she  had  been  completely  outdistanced 
in  the  matter  of  implanting  colonies  of  her  own  people. 
This  vital  factor  in  the  continued  success  of  the 
English  race  —  the  capacity  of  the  people  to  emigrate  in 
increasing  numbers  —  has  had  the  greatest  historical 
influence.  Because  such  colonies  have  become  common- 
places, the  immense  significance  of  the  first  thriving 
English  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  is  to-day 
lost  sight  of.  But  it  is  a  fact,  surely  worth  remember- 
ing and  emphasising,  that  these  North  American 
colonies  were  the  first  real  colonies  of  white  men  — 
destined  to  make  a  nation  —  which  had  ever  been 
founded  on  a  true  self-governing  scale  out  of  Europe. 
The  Spanish  colonies  were  more  in  the  nature  of 
military  dominions  maintained  over  subject  races,  and 
in  most  of  these  colonies  a  fusion  between  the  white 
and  the  coloured  peoples  was  in  full  progress.  The 
French  colonies  were  but  little  better  although  situated 
in  New  France  or  Canada,  as  they  had  but  a  scanty 
population  which  looked  with  aversion  on  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil. 

Very  different  was  the  case  with  the  British. 
Though  different  motives  had  prompted  the  formation 
of  the  different  settlements,  a  common  race  and  a 
common  pride  united  the  men  of  New  England  with 
the  men  of  Virginia  and  Maryland ;  and  the  soil  which 
they  held  was  tilled  and  tilled  again.     By  the  middle 


64         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

of  the  eighteenth  century  these  settlements  possessed  no 
less  than  two  million  inhabitants,  and  because  they 
were  so  rich  in  men  became  the  real  key  to  the  series 
of  problems  which  were  then  unfolded. 

Though  France,  Hke  Spain,  had  been  humbled  in  the 
contest  for  supreme  power  in  Europe,  the  genius  of 
her  people  was  so  utterly  different  from  the  genius  of 
the  Spanish,  that  owing  also  to  her  central  and 
dominating  geographical  position  and  her  great  coast- 
line, territorial  losses  at  home  soon  served  largely  to 
increase  her  oceanic  activities.  In  that  rich  land,  first 
named  New  France  and  only  later  Canada,  her  clear- 
headed statesmen  saw  more  than  a  compensation  for 
contracted  European  frontiers.  Had  France  been 
content  to  confine  herself  to  territory  which  was  clearly 
hers  by  right  of  pre-emption  —  had  she  remembered  the 
valuable  political  maxim  that  he  who  goes  slowly  goes 
safely  —  it  is  not  unwise  to  assume  that  the  French  flag 
would  yet  be  waving  above  the  waters  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  the  French  tongue  spoken  exclusively 
over  a  vast  belt  of  country  stretching  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific. 

But  in  America,  as  in  India  under  Dupleix,  France 
could  not  brook  the  idea  of  a  rival :  and  so  Frenchmen 
—  than  whom  none  have  a  clearer  strategical  outlook  — 
believing  that  if  they  could  only  obtain  possession  of 
the  sole  roadways  throughout  this  vast  untamed  New 
World,  the  waterways,  they  would  soon  become 
supreme,  commenced  at  once  that  adventurous  policy 
which,  in  view  of  the  numerical  superiority  of  the 
English  in  the  contested  hemisphere,  could  only  lead  to 
disaster.  The  hinterland  of  British  North  America 
was  studded  with  lake  and  riverine  forts;   the  banks  of 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  65 

the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri  resounded  with  the 
voices  of  French  voyageursy  coming  in  advance  of  their 
soldiers;  the  hope  was  openly  cherished  that  soon  the 
great  colony  of  New  France  would  be  hnked  to  the 
great  colony  of  Louisiana,  and  the  British  effectually 
confined  to  the  coast  regions.  The  West  Indies  lent 
their  valuable  aid;  and  all  Frenchmen  became  suddenly 
confident  that  England,  which  in  the  wars  of  the 
Austrian  and  Spanish  successions  had  shown  them  the 
same  old  implacable  hatred,  would  be  finally  humbled.^ 
The  psychology  of  this  bold  movement  must  be  sought 
for  not  so  much  in  the  actual  conditions  of  the  day 

^  Abroad,  i.e.  out  of  Europe,  war  was  practically  continuous,  as 
this  extract  shows :  — 

"The  urgency  with  which  peace  was  desired  by  the  principal 
parties  to  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  may  perhaps 
be  inferred  from  the  neglect  to  settle  definitely  and  conclusively 
many  of  the  questions  outstanding  between  them,  and  notably 
the  very  disputes  about  which  the  war  between  England  and 
Spain  began.  It  seems  as  though  the  Powers  feared  to  treat 
thoroughly  matters  that  contained  the  germs  of  future  quarrels, 
lest  the  discussion  should  prolong  the  war  that  then  existed. 
England  made  peace  because  the  fall  of  Holland  was  otherwise 
inevitable,  not  because  she  had  enforced,  or  surrendered,  her 
claims  of  1739  against  Spain.  The  right  of  uninterrupted  naviga- 
tion in  West  Indian  seas,  free  from  any  search,  was  left  un- 
determined, as  were  other  kindred  matters.  Not  only  so,  but 
the  boundaries  between  the  English  and  French  colonies  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Ohio,  toward  Canada,  and  on  the  land  side  of  the 
Nova  Scotian  peninsula,  remained  as  vague  as  they  had  before 
been.  It  was  plain  that  peace  could  not  last;  and  by  it,  if 
she  had  saved  Holland,  England  surrendered  the  control  of  the 
sea  which  she  had  won.  The  true  character  of  the  strife,  shrouded 
for  a  moment  by  the  continental  war,  was  revealed  by  the  so-called 
peace;  though  formally  allayed,  the  contention  continued  in  every 
part  of  the  world."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History, 
Chap.  VIII. 
F 


G6         THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

as  in  the  traditions  which  remained  from  other 
times. 

As  late  as  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
England  was  still  very  generally  looked  upon  as  a 
minor  Power  which  had  gained  exceptional  renown 
mainly  through  the  predatory  instincts  of  her  people,  and 
their  strange  mastery  over  the  sea.  Such  a  Power,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  statesmen  of  the  Continent,  was  not 
to  be  spoken  of  in  the  same  breath  as  France;  England 
was  merely  a  second  Holland  —  a  common  carrier  —  the 
home  of  an  adventurous  sea-people.  Even  Macaulay 
admits  that  until  Clive  went  to  India  the  English  "were 
despised  as  mere  pedlars,  while  the  French  were  revered 
as  a  people  formed  for  victory  and  command."  In  the 
view  of  the  great  kingdoms  of  Europe,  neither  the  vic- 
tories of  Marlborough,  nor  the  successes  of  adventurers 
and  traders  in  most  distant  regions,  entitled  her  to  a 
higher  place,  because  of  two  facts :  England,  compared 
to  other  great  countries,  was  small  in  area,  and  weak 
in  men. 

These  facts  seemed  to  gain  further  emphasis  from 
the  internal  condition  of  England,  which,  after  having 
possessed,  under  the  last  Tudors  and  the  Stuarts,  a 
highly  centralised  and  autocratic  authority,  had  by 
the  Revolution  been  surrendered  for  more  than  two 
generations  to  the  control  of  an  effete  oligarchy  —  with 
no  man,  until  a  Chatham  arose,  who  dared  to  revive  the 
Cromwellian  tradition. 

Bearing  this  well  in  mind,  it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand the  ambitions  of  the  French  in  America,  though 
a  census  taken  after  the  actual  surrender  of  Canada 
showed  that  the  total  French  population  in  that  territory 
only  numbered  76,000  people.     At  home  they  were  so 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  67 

populous  that  they  refused  to  beHeve  in  any  possibility 
of  English  overseas  supremacy;  and  until  Chatham 
assumed  the  sole  direction  of  affairs,  the  fitful  nature 
of  the  struggle  in  the  New  World  seemed  to  endorse 
that  view.  But  Chatham  infused  his  own  zeal  into 
everyone  under  him;  he  preached  the  frank  gospel 
that  France  was  the  only  Power  England  need  fear; 
the  American  militia,  answering  his  call,  soon  ran  into 
tens  of  thousands  of  men,  owing  to  the  enthusiasm 
which  the  poHcy  of  complete  defiance  to  France  aroused; 
and  victory  was  assured.  In  1759,  with  the  surrender 
of  Quebec  and  the  entire  chain  of  lake  and  riverine 
posts  on  which  French  strategy  had  been  based,  England 
suddenly  became  supreme  in  the  New  World;  in  India 
the  victory  of  Plassey  founded  a  yet  vaster  empire. 
By  the  treaty  of  Paris,  signed  in  1763,  France  admitted 
these  stubborn  facts.  Suddenly,  unexpectedly,  a  totally 
new  situation  had  arisen.  England  had  displaced 
France.^ 

^  "The  one  nation  that  gained  in  this  war  was  that  which  used 
the  sea  in  peace  to  earn  its  wealth,  and  ruled  it  in  war  by  the  extent 
of  its  navy,  by  the  number  of  its  subjects  who  lived  on  the 
sea  or  by  the  sea,  and  by  its  numerous  bases  of  operations 
scattered  over  the  globe.  Yet  it  must  be  observed  that  these 
bases  themselves  would  have  lost  their  value  if  their  communica- 
tions remained  obstructed.  Therefore  the  French  lost  Louisburg, 
Martinique,  Pondicherry;  so  England  herself  lost  Minorca.  The 
service  between  the  bases  and  the  mobile  force  between  the  ports 
and  the  fleets  is  mutual.  In  this  respect  the  navy  is  essentially  a 
light  corps;  it  keeps  open  the  communications  between  its  own 
ports,  it  obstructs  those  of  the  enemy;  but  it  sweeps  the  sea  for  the 
service  of  the  land,  it  controls  the  desert  that  man  may  live 
and  thrive  on  the  habitable  globe.  These  remarks,  always  true, 
are  doubly  so  now  since  the  introduction  of  steam.  The  renewal 
of  coal  is  a  want  more  frequent,  more  urgent,  more  peremptory,  than 
any   known   to   the    sailing-ship.     It   is   vain    to    look    for   energetic 


68         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

It  is  from  this  moment,  and  from  this  moment  only, 
that  the  history  of  England  becomes  world-history,  and 
that  Englishmen  became  covered  with  a  renown  which 
remains  to  them  to  this  day.  From  being  a  minor 
Power,  with  a  major  fleet  but  with  only  a  small  home 
territory,  England,  by  her  victory  over  France  not 
only  in  America  but  in  all  parts  of  the  Atlantic,  in 
India  and  in  Africa  as  well,  became  a  great  Power,  and 
therefore  the  object  of  secret  envy  and  hatred  among 
European  nations,  which  instinctively  understood  that 
the  old  balance  had  disappeared,  never  to  return,  and 
that  a  new  pivot  had  been  made  on  which  to  swing 
events.  France  had  definitely  given  up  her  long  contest 
for  the  mastery  of  the  East,  and  left  the  British  to  estab- 
lish their  rule  over  scores  of  millions  of  people;  in  Africa, 
too,  she  had  lost  everything.  France,  the  leading 
representative  of  European  culture  and  civilisation,  had 
been  surprisingly  vanquished. 

But  most  startling  fact  of  all  to  those  whose  inland 
homes  left  them  in  ignorance  of  the  outer  world,  the  sea, 
from  being  a  mere  highway  on  which  to  travel  to  distant 
lands,  had  been  demonstrated  as  the  controlling  engine 
of  war  in  the  hands  of  an  island-Power.  Henceforth 
the  sea  acquired  new  terrors.  France's  friend  and  ally, 
Spain  —  still  living  on  the  tradition  of  her  past  greatness 
—  had  suffered  throughout  the  Atlantic  contest  in  the 
same  cruel  way;   once  almost  mistress  of  the  world,  she 

naval  operations  distant  from  coal  stations.  It  is  equally  vain  to 
acquire  distant  coaling  stations  without  maintaining  a  f>owerful 
navy;  they  will  but  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  But  the 
vainest  of  all  delusions  is  the  expectation  of  bringing  down  an 
enemy  by  commerce-destroying  alone,  with  no  coaling  stations 
outside  the  national  boundaries."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea 
Power  upon  History,  Chap.  VIII. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  69 

had  to  deplore  the  loss  of  Cuba,  the  Philippines,  and 
Minorca.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  internal  condition 
of  England,  the  supremacy  of  the  British  Empire,  so 
summarily  established,  would  have  long  remained 
unchallenged.  But  democracy  had  yet  to  come  to  its 
own,  and  because  of  that  one  vital  fact  it  needed  fresh 
conflicts  both  to  ensure  permanency  to  the  fabric  which 
had  been  raised,  and  to  secure  the  continued  advance  of 
mankind. 


It  was  the  Hanoverian  connection  —  the  fact  that  the 
first  two  sovereigns  of  the  House  of  Brunswick  cared 
more  for  their  German  Electorate  than  for  their  EngHsh 
throne  —  which  had  dragged  the  British  Isles  so  often 
into  Continental  rivalries.  This  European  entangle- 
ment, and  the  fact  that  in  the  last  struggle  England  was 
waging  war  in  company  and  in  alliance  with  Prussia, 
introduced  a  factor  which  went  far  to  rob  her  of  the 
fruits  which  her  independent  action  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe  had  gathered  for  her.  Hence,  too,  sprang 
a  train  of  consequences,  the  power  of  which  is  to  be 
seen  even  to  this  day. 

Since  the  settlement  of  modern  Europe  on  its  present 
basis  dates  from  the  days  of  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
scant  doubt  can  exist  that  had  England's  decision  in  the 
matter  of  making  peace  with  France  in  the  year  1763 
been  different,  the  whole  course  of  the  world's  history 
might  easily  have  been  changed.^     For  it  is  clear  that 

^  This  is  how  Mahan  cuttingly  summarises  the  land-contest  of 
the  Seven  Years'  War :  — 

"The  terms  of  the  peace  were  simply  the  status  quo  ante 
helium.  By  the  estimate  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  of  his  soldiers  had  fallen  or  died  in  this  war, 


70         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

had  England  followed  Chatham's  advice,  and  completely 
broken  French  maritime  power  by  persisting  in  the 
French  war  until  that  "nursery  of  seamen,"  the  Atlantic 
fisheries,  had  been  destroyed  and  the  West  Indies  totally 
annexed,  French  naval  help  would  have  been  lacking 
less  than  twenty  years  later  when  the  American  colonies 
revolted;  and  without  that  naval  help  those  colonies 
could  never  have  obtained  their  independence,  save  by 
the  free  gift  of  the  Mother  Country.  But  peace  was 
decided  on  —  because  of  both  internal  and  external  com- 
plications —  and  thus  England  was  left  face  to  face  with 
a  great  domestic  problem  of  which  the  approaching 
American  Revolution  was  to  be  but  one  phase. ^     It  is 

out  of  a  kingdom  of  five  million  souls;  while  the  losses  of  Russia, 
Austria,  and  France  aggregated  four  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
men.  The  result  was  simply  that  things  remained  as  they  were." 
—  Influence  of  Sea  Poiver  upon  History,  Chap.  VIII. 

*  This  is  what  Mahan  says  about  this  peace:  — 

"The  nation  at  large  and  Pitt,  the  favourite  of  the  nation,  were 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  'France,'  said  Pitt,  'is 
chiefly  formidable  to  us  as  a  maritime  and  commercial  Power. 
What  we  gain  in  this  respect  is  valuable  to  us  above  all  through  the 
injury  to  her  which  results  from  it.  You  leave  to  France  the 
possibility  of  reviving  her  navy.'  In  truth,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  sea-power  and  of  the  national  jealousies  which  the  spirit  of 
that  age  sanctioned,  these  words,  though  illiberal,  were  strictly 
justifiable.  The  restoration  to  France  of  her  colonies  in  the 
West  Indies  and  her  stations  in  India,  together  with  the  valuable 
right  of  fishery  in  her  former  American  possessions,  put  before 
her  the  possibility  and  the  inducement  to  restore  her  shipping,  her 
commerce,  and  her  navy,  and  thus  tended  to  recall  her  from 
the  path  of  continental  ambition  which  had  been  so  fatal  to  her  in- 
terests, and  in  the  same  proportion  favorable  to  the  unprece- 
dented growth  of  England's  power  upon  the  ocean.  The  opposition, 
and  indeed  some  of  the  ministry,  also  thought  that  so  commanding 
and  important  a  position  as  Havana  was  poorly  paid  for  by  the  ces- 
sion of  the  yet  desolate  and  unproductive  region  called  Florida. 
Porto    Rico    was    suggested,    Florida    accepted.     There    were    other 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  71 

astonishing  to-day  to  reflect  that  only  four  generations 
after  the  people  had  executed  one  king  they  should 
applaud  the  tyranny  of  another. 

From  the  moment  George  III.  had  ascended  the 
throne,  he  had  determined  to  emancipate  himself  from 
the  restraint  to  which  his  ancestors  had  been  forced  to 
submit,  and  to  regain  the  authority  which  had  been  the 
prerogative  of  the  Stuarts.  To  this  vital  fact  must  be 
assigned  the  confusion  in  British  foreign  policy  which  so 
quickly  followed,  and  the  blind  mixing  of  false  objectives 
with  the  true.  Under  George  I.  and  George  II.  the 
system  of  government  by   Parliament  had   been  fully 

minor  points  of  difference,  into  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter.  It 
would  scarcely  be  denied  that  with  the  commanding  nvHtary  con- 
trol of  the  sea  held  by  England,  grasping  as  she  now  did  so  many 
important  positions,  with  her  navy  overwhelmingly  superior  in 
numbers,  and  her  commerce  and  internal  condition  very  thriving, 
more  rigorous  terms  might  easily  have  been  exacted  and  would  have 
been  prudent.  The  ministry  defended  their  eagerness  and  spirit 
of  concession  on  the  ground  of  the  enormous  growth  of  the 
debt,  which  then  amounted  to  ;^i  22,000,000,  a  sum  in  every 
point  of  view  much  greater  then  than  now;  but  while  this  draft  upon 
the  future  was  fully  justified  by  the  success  of  the  war,  it  also  im- 
peratively demanded  that  the  utmost  advantages  which  the  military 
situation  made  attainable  should  be  exacted.  This  the  ministry 
failed  to  do.  As  regards  the  debt,  it  is  well  observed  by  a  French 
writer  that  'in  this  war,  and  for  years  afterward,  England  had  in 
view  nothing  less  than  the  conquest  of  America  and  the  progress  of 
her  East  India  Company.  By  these  two  countries  her  manufac- 
tures and  commerce  acquired  more  than  sufficient  outlets,  and  re- 
paid her  for  the  numerous  sacrifices  she  had  made.  Seeing  the  mari- 
time decay  of  Europe  —  its  commerce  annihilated,  its  manufactures 
so  little  advanced  —  how  could  the  English  nation  feel  afraid  of  a 
future  which  offered  so  vast  a  perspective  ?'  Unfortunately  the  nation 
needed  an  exponent  in  the  government;  and  its  chosen  mouthpiece, 
the  only  man,  perhaps,  able  to  rise  to  the  level  of  the  great  opportunity, 
was  out  of  favour  at  court."  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History, 
Chap.  VIII. 


72         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

established,  and  the  House  of  Commons,  though 
largely  influenced  by  corruption,  held  the  real  power. 
George  HI.  determined  to  break  this  system;  his 
success  in  so  doing  helped  largely  to  set  in  motion  those 
sanguinary  movements  which  were  not  stilled  until  two 
generations  later.  It  is  not  necessary  to  consider  these 
troublesome  matters  in  detail;  they  are  mentioned 
because  they  have  to-day  general  political  importance. 
If  it  were  possible  to  see  clearly  where  in  those  days  the 
vital  mistakes  were  committed,  statesmen  would  possess 
an  almost  infallible  guide  to  the  handling  of  future 
problems  in  both  Asia  and  Africa,  which  are  to-day  the 
final  meeting-places  of  the  world's  rival  forces.  But 
though  it  is  clear  that  a  fierce  and  resolute  use  of  gun- 
powder is  still  the  sole  means  of  securing  the  onward 
march  of  empires  —  that  is,  that  a  centralised  authority 
is  still  necessary  to  secure  any  resolute  course  of  action 
in  the  face  of  imminent  danger  —  it  is  equally  certain 
that  restraints  imposed  upon  the  internal  growth  of 
liberalism  and  individual  independence  infallibly  invite 
disaster  by  sowing  within  the  seeds  of  future  dissolution. 
It  is  the  discovery  of  the  happy  medium  between  the 
conditions  which  make  for  external  political  success — 
that  is,  for  success  of  foreign  poHcy  —  and  the  conditions 
which  produce  internal  content,  which  should  engage 
the  energies  of  those  who  would  hasten  the  coming  of 
a  political  millennium.  Because  the  ancient  barbarian 
principle  of  representation  had  not  yet  been  adapted  to 
meet  the  totally  new  conditions  which  had  grown  up 
overseas,  England  fought  her  own  colonies  and  lost.' 

*  In  view  of  the  curious  ideas  which  still  linger  in  certain 
quarters  in  England  it  may  be  held  pertinent  to  insert  here  a 
brilliant  passage  from  Dr.  Goldwin  Smith's  History  of  the  United 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  73 

To  the  chastening  of  the  national  spirit  which  so 
quickly  followed  this  unlawful  attempt  —  unlawful  in 

States,  which  all  who  use  English  as  their  mother-tongue  should  ponder 
over: — 

"Separation,  again  be  it  said,  was  inevitable.  It  was  too 
likely  that,  the  vision  of  statesmanship  being  clouded  as  it  was 
respecting  the  relation  of  colonies  to  the  mother-country,  the 
separation  would  be  angry  and  violent.  Still  it  might  conceivably 
have  been  amicable,  and  that  dark  page  might  possibly  have  been 
torn  from  the  book  of  destiny.  Woe,  we  must  say,  to  them  by  whom 
the  offence  came  and  through  whose  immediate  agency,  cul- 
pable in  itself,  the  two  great  families  of  our  race  were  made 
and  to  a  deplorable  extent  have  remained  enemies  instead  of  being 
friends,  brethren,  and  fellow-workers  in  the  advancement  of  their 
common  civilisation.  Woe  to  the  arbitrary  and  bigoted  king 
whose  best  excuse  is  that  he  had  not  made  himself  a  ruler 
instead  of  being  what  nature  intended  him  to  be,  a  ploughman. 
Woe  to  Grenville,  who  though  not  wicked  or  really  bent  on  de- 
priving the  colonies  of  their  rights,  but  on  the  contrary  most 
anxious  after  his  fashion  to  promote  their  interests,  was  narrow, 
pedantic,  overbearing,  possessed  with  extravagant  ideas  of  the 
authority  of  Parliament,  and  unstatesmanlike  enough  to  insist  on 
doing  because  it  was  technically  lawful  that  which  the  sagacity  of 
Walpole  had  on  the  ground  of  practical  expediency  refused  to  do. 
Woe  above  all  to  Charles  Townshend,  who,  with  his  vain  brilliancy 
and  his  champagne  speeches,  repeated  in  the  face  of  recent  and 
decisive  experience  the  perilous  experiment  and  recklessly  renewed 
the  quarrel.  Woe  to  Lord  North,  and  all  the  more  because  in  stoop- 
ing to  do  the  will  of  the  king  he  was  sinning  against  the  light 
of  good  nature  and  good  sense  in  himself.  Woe  even  to  Mansfield, 
whose  supremely  legal  intellect  too  ably  upheld  the  letter  of 
the  law  against  policy  and  the  right.  Woe  to  the  Parliament  —  a 
Parliament  be  it  ever  remembered  of  rotten  borough^  and  of 
nominees  not  of  the  nation  —  which  carelessly  or  insolently  sup- 
ported the  evil  resolution  of  the  ministry  and  the  court.  Woe  to 
the  Tory  squires  who  shouted  for  the  war,  to  the  Tory  parsons  who 
preached  for  it,  and  to  the  Tory  bishops  who  voted  for  it  in  the  House 
of  Lords.  Woe  to  the  pamphleteers  of  prerogative,  such  as 
Johnson,  whose  vituperative  violence  added  fuel  to  the  flame. 
But  woe  also  to  the  agitators  at  Boston,  who  with  the  design  of  in- 


74         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

the  highest  sense  because  it  was  inexpedient  —  to  coerce 
the  North  American  colonies  into  slavish  obedience, 
must  be  directly  traced  the  adoption  of  those  political 
and  economic  views  which  still  so  sharply  differentiate 
the  British  polity  from  that  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  and 
which  have  secured  for  that  polity  much  of  its  present 
vast  renown.  Had  England  been  successful  in  imposing 
those  strange  views  which  found  favour  with  a  resolute 
but  bigoted  king,  and  had  she  at  the  same  time 
vanquished  her  other  enemies,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
suppose  that  the  centralisation  of  power  which  would 
have  speedily  followed  would  in  the  end  have  been  as 
disastrous  to  her  as  it  had  previously  been  in  the  cases 
of  Spain  and  France.  But  because  England  failed 
where  it  was  good  for  her  to  fail  —  because  she  found 
that  Cromwell  and  his  Ironsides  are  really  eternal 
figures  in  the  history  of  the  English  race  no  matter 
where  that  race  may  wander,  figures  which  must  re- 
appear whenever  conditions  provoke  a  re-incarnation  — 
it  has  been  permitted  her,  instead  of  falHng  back  in  the 
race  of  nations,  to  retain  and  increase  that  mastery 
which  Chatham  and  his  disciples  began  to  secure  for 
her. 

dependence  unavowed  and  of  which  they  themselves  were  per- 
haps but  half  conscious,  did  their  utmost  to  push  the  quarrel  to 
extremity  and  to  quench  the  hope  of  reconciliation.  Woe  to  the 
preachers  of  Boston,  who  whether  from  an  exaggerated  dread  of 
prelacy  or  to  win  the  favour  of  the  people  made  themselves  the  trum- 
peters of  discord  and  perverted  the  gospel  into  a  message  of  civil 
war.  Woe  to  contraband  traders  if  there  were  any,  who  sought 
in  fratricidal  strife  relief  from  trade  restrictions;  to  debtors 
if  there  were  any,  who  sought  in  it  a  sponge  for  debt.  Woe  to  all 
on  either  side  who  under  the  influence  of  passion,  interest,  or 
selfish  ambition  fomented  the  quarrel  which  rent  asunder  the 
English   race." 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  75 

To  treat  of  this  great  and  eventful  period  —  the 
revolutionary  age  ushered  in  by  the  American  Revolu- 
tion —  is  none  of  our  present  business,  save  in  regard  to 
those  issues  w^hich  were  raised  and  left  unsolved.  It 
may  be  said  here  that  while  in  one  sense  the  revolt  of 
the  North  American  colonies  was  a  purely  internal 
problem  for  the  newly-founded  British  Empire,  the 
immediate  mishandling  of  that  problem  made  it  a  great 
and  far-reaching  international  event.  Foolish  strategy 
led  to  sudden  surrenders;  sudden  surrenders  encouraged 
armed  intervention;  and  thus  France,  still  smarting 
under  her  displacement  as  the  leading  Power  of  Europe, 
and  with  Spain  inevitably  tied  to  her  by  the  Family 
Compact,  sullenly  entered  the  fray.  Assailed  within 
the  limits  of  her  Empire  and  torn  with  doubt,  England 
was  everywhere  on  the  defensive  —  reversing  her  well- 
known  and  well-feared  policy  of  attack,  and  thereby 
inviting  disaster.^     The  separation  of  the  richest  colonies 

^  These  instructions,  quoted  by  Mahan,  were  issued  to  the 
French  navy  by  Louis  XVI.  when  France  decided  to  aid  the 
North  American  colonies :  — 

"Your  duty  now  is  to  restore  to  the  French  flag  the  lustre  with 
which  it  once  shone;  past  misfortunes  and  faults  must  be  buried 
out  of  sight;  only  by  the  most  illustrious  actions  can  the  navy  hope 
to  succeed  in  doing  this.  His  Majesty  has  the  right  to  expect  the 
greatest  efforts  from  his  officers.  Under  whatever  circumstances 
the  King's  fleet  may  be  placed,  his  Majesty's  orders,  which  he 
expressly  charges  me  to  impress  upon  you,  as  well  as  upon 
all  officers  in  command,  are  that  his  ships  attack  with  the  great- 
est vigour,  and  defend  themselves,  on  all  occasions,  to  the  last 
extremity." 

And  Mahan  adds  the  following  luminous  commentary  on  the 
attitude  of  France  and  Spain  in  this  struggle :  — 

"Already  despoiled  of  Canada,  she  (France)  had  every  reason 
to  believe  that  a  renewal  of  war,  with  Europe  neutral  and  the 
Americans    friends    instead  of  enemies,  would   not  rob  her  of  her 


76         THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR 

she  ever  had  became  assured;  the  unwisdom  of  her  truce 
with  France  twenty  years  before  became  more  clear;  and 
forced  to  make  peace  on  ignominious  terms,  silently 
she  nursed  her  rage  until  the  genius  of  Nelson  was  able 
to  revive  the  traditions  of  Cromwell  and  Chatham,  and 
the  holocaust  of  Trafalgar  not  only  repaid  in  full  her 
debt  but  restored  to  her  her  honour.  Imperially  the 
American  separation  had  been  without  effect;  England 
had  remained  the  leading  Power;  and  more  than  that, 
Liberalism  was  born  again,  and  grew  stronger  and 
stronger  until  the  final  victory  of  the  Reform  Acts. 

The  effect  of  the  American  Revolution,  while  highly 
favourable  at  once  to  the  institutions  of  England, 
because  the  ground  had  been  prepared  more  than  a 
century  before  to  profit  by  that  lesson,  was  in  the  first 
instance  disastrous  to  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  led 
directly  to  a  generation  of  terrible  warfare.  In 
England,  the  revolution  in  political  and  economic 
thought  was  accomplished  by  indirect  means  —  it  began 
by  a  disaster  within  the  limits  of  the  Empire  but  away 
from  the  heart  of  the  Empire.     In  the  rest  of  Europe 

islands.  Recognising  that  the  Americans,  who  less  than  twenty 
years  before  had  insisted  upon  the  conquest  of  Canada,  would  not 
consent  to  her  regaining  it,  she  expressly  stipulated  that  she  would 
have  no  such  hopes,  but  exacted  that  in  the  coming  war  she 
would  retain  any  English  West  Indian  possessions  which  she 
could  seize.  Spain  was  differently  situated.  Hating  England, 
wanting  to  regain  Gibraltar,  Minorca,  and  Jamaica  —  no  mere 
jewels  in  her  crown,  but  foundation-stones  of  her  power  —  she 
nevertheless  saw  that  the  successful  rebellion  of  the  English 
colonists  against  the  hitherto  unrivalled  sea-power  of  the  mother- 
country  would  be  a  dangerous  example  to  her  own  enormous 
colonial  system,  from  which  she  yearly  drew  so  great  sub- 
sidies. If  England  with  her  navy  should  fall,  what  could 
Spain  achieve .?  —  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History,  Chap.  IX. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  77 

it  was  only  partially  accomplished  after  a  long  lapse  of 
time  by  direct  means,  in  which  cruel  devastation  every- 
where played  a  most  considerable  part  before  the  gospel 
of  the  ballot-box  was  accepted. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  French  Revolution, 
precipitated  by  the  American  Revolution  and  the 
financial  embarrassments  which  sprang  therefrom,  is 
not  yet  understood  in  its  total  effect,  and  that  like  those 
vast  subterranean  convulsions  which  disturb  the 
tranquilHty  of  the  earth,  only  that  manifestation  which 
has  been  seen  on  the  surface  has  been  properly  noted. 

To  the  historical  student,  who  avoids  emotional 
judgments,  the  fact  that  such  a  convulsion  should  have 
taken  place  in  France,  instead  of  elsewhere,  is  the  final 
proof  that  France,  in  spite  of  colonial  defeats  and  in 
spite  of  all  English  efforts,  continued  to  retain  not  only 
the  intellectual  leadership  of  Europe  but  something  of 
the  political  leadership  as  well.^     Hand  in  hand  with 

^  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  factor  in  those  days  was 
England's  weakness  in  men.  Concerning  England's  weakness  in 
men,  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  even  a  generation  later  —  that  is, 
at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution  —  France  possessed  a  popu- 
lation of  twenty-five  million  people  against  Great  Britain's  nine 
million,  to  which  may  be  added  a  thoroughly  disaffected  Irish 
population  of  three  and  a  half  million.  It  was  this  almost 
traditional  weakness  in  men  which,  combined  with  the  geographi- 
cal fact  that  England  is  so  small,  had  so  large  a  political  influence. 
The  marvellous  increase  in  the  British  population  since  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  an  increase  of  three  hundred 
per  cent,  in  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  yeais,  tends  to 
obscure  the  fact  that  in  the  eighteenth  century  England  was  too  weak 
in  men  to  exert  a  profound  general  influence  in  world-politics. 
Even  in  Napoleonic  days  the  tradition  —  largely  arising  out  of  her 
narrow  territory  and  her  slender  population,  in  spite  of  her  mari- 
time greatness  —  contributed  to  the  idea  that  she  might  be  eclipsed, 
as  Holland  had  been  eclipsed,  if  she  were  systematically  opposed  by 
the  whole  strength  of  Europe. 


78         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

the  enormous  centralisation  of  power  which  had  been 
estabHshed,  there  existed  in  France  a  greater  sense  of 
nationalism  and  a  greater  understanding  of  the  meaning 
of  liberty,  than  in  all  other  countries  of  the  Continent 
between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Ural.  This  great  explosive 
movement  was  the  first  real  movement  in  continental 
Europe  to  discover  how  far  centraHsation  of  political 
power  can  co-exist  with  strong  individual  liberty :  that 
is,  whether  a  powerful  executive  and  a  true  democracy 
can  really  co-exist.  And  as  it  is  this  problem  which 
has  nowhere  yet  been  fully  solved,  it  is  a  problem 
which  remains  perpetually  interesting. 

But  from  the  international  standpoint  —  the  world 
standpoint  —  that  such  a  convulsion  should  have  come 
so  suddenly  and  sharply,  shows  that  the  transoceanic 
and  colonial  activities  of  the  various  European  States, 
which  were  still  being  conducted  on  almost  mediaeval 
principles,  had  made  men  blind  to  the  fact  that  on  the 
soil  of  Europe  itself  the  breakdown  of  old  barriers  had 
been  silently  and  magically  proceeding  through  the 
direct  influence  of  this  commerce  conducted  with  so 
many  distant  lands.  Whole  classes  of  people  who  had 
hitherto  been  content  to  remain  undistinguished  from 
the  great  masses  of  their  countrymen,  were  rapidly 
enriched  through  colonial  trade;  and  thus  those  who 
relied  on  hereditary  rights  and  privileges  handed  down 
from  feudal  days,  found  themselves  enormously  out- 
numbered and  their  influence  vanishing.  Swamped  in 
the  new  waves  of  prosperity  which  had  been  impelled 
from  distant  shores,  they  held  up  their  hands  weakly 
and  attempted  to  stay  irresistible  forces  with  mere 
words.  Thus  it  may  be  said  that  to  the  navigators  of 
the  earlier  centuries  —  the  discoverers  of  the  Americas, 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  79 

the  African  Continent,  the  India  of  the  mainland  and 
the  India  of  countless  isles,  as  well  as  the  chart-makers 
of  the  five  seas  —  directly  belongs  the  proud  honour  of 
having  found  the  hammer  with  which  to  strike  away 
the  iron  fetters  then  still  partially  binding  the  common 
man.  Out  of  Europe  —  and  not  in  Europe  —  were 
gathered  the  materials  necessary  for  making  bonfires  of 
the  last  of  ancient  privileges;  just  as  out  of  Europe  were 
taken  Europe's  religion,  Europe's  philosophy  and  much 
of  Europe's  arts.  This  is  the  immense  debt  which  is 
owed  by  Europe  to  non-Europe. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  debt  to  non-Europe,  the  student, 
surveying  this  vast  movement  which  took  more  than 
two  generations  to  run  even  a  portion  of  its  ever- 
interrupted  course  in  Europe,  notes  that  the  concessions 
which  in  the  end  were  unwillingly  made  by  almost 
every  Government  in  Europe  to  their  peoples  did  not 
extend  to  their  sphere  of  operation  beyond  Europe  and 
America  —  that  is,  beyond  the  homes  of  the  white  man. 
So  far  indeed  from  any  concessions  being  made,  England 
became  more  than  ever  the  chief  and  irresistible  colo- 
nial Power,  and  marked  her  progress  throughout  the 
Napoleonic  era  by  a  series  of  conquests  in  the  extra- 
European  world  as  surprising  as  any  the  genius  of 
Chatham  had  won  for  her :  she  remained  as  relentless  in 
carrying  out  that  peculiar  doctrine  —  that  the  possession 
of  the  right  of  eminent  domain  by  conquest  or  by 
inheritance  implies  government  by  force  of  arms  —  as 
George  III.  himself  could  have  wished.  Whilst 
the  winged  victories  of  Napoleon  were  modernising 
Europe,  the  Cape  became  British;  Ceylon  succumbed; 
the  vast  island  of  Java  was  torn  from  the  Dutch  and 
kept  under  military  occupation  for  a  decade;  the  Malay 


80         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

Peninsula  was  marked  down;  India  was  more  clearly 
made  a  close  British  preserve;  no  island,  indeed,  how- 
soever distant  or  howsoever  insignificant,  was  safe  from 
attack  unless  above  it  waved  the  Union  Jack.  Thus 
whilst  that  tremendous  secular  Palladium  —  "No  Taxa- 
tion without  Representation"  —  which  after  having  been 
enunciated  in  New  England  was  being  carried  forcibly 
under  disguised  forms  by  Napoleon  from  Lisbon  to 
Poland  (in  that  he  destroyed  the  ancient  power), 
England  was  boldly  adhering  to  the  earher  creed  of 
conquest  and  government  by  force  of  arms,  wherever 
the  pigment  of  the  skin  differentiated  the  autochthonous 
races  from  those  who  saw  in  themselves  the  heirs  of 
Hellenic  intellect  and  Roman  military  strength. 

To  this  singular  circumstance  must  be  ascribed 
England's  present  remarkable  position  —  that  is,  that 
while  she  had  been  the  first  to  admit  through  force 
majeure  this  new  general  principle  among  all  white 
peoples  wherever  they  may  permanently  implant  them- 
selves, she  stubbornly  delayed  doing  so  elsewhere;  and, 
tearing  by  force  of  arms  wide  territories  both  from  the 
grasp  of  alien  races  and  from  other  weaker  European 
Powers,  she^  made  it  amply  clear  that  she  was  only 
prepared  to  modify  her  attitude  when  political  expe- 
diency urgently  bade  her  do  so. 

Those  who  would,  in  consequence,  accuse  the 
English  of  perfidiousness,  would  do  well  to  pause  and 
remember  that  such  an  assumption  shows  slight 
acquaintance  with  first  causes.  The  leaden  air  of 
England  provokes  not  that  desire  which  Goethe  has  said 
can  only  live  in  the  realms  of  dreams  —  happiness  — 
but  the  desire  for  comfort  and  perfection,  perfection  in 
all   that   machinery   of  government   and   in   all   those 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  81 

material  things  which  ensure  tranquilHty.  Therefore 
whilst  more  volatile  and  impressionable  peoples  were 
eager  to  shape  their  destinies  by  giving  effect  to  the 
dreams  of  their  wise  men,  made  possible  by  the 
Revolutions  in  America  and  in  France,  the  British 
alone,  stolidly  pursuing  their  course  in  the  face  of  all 
difficulties,  were  winning  for  themselves  a  position  in 
the  extra-European  world  which,  if  the  lessons  of 
history  are  now  taken  to  heart,  nothing  should  ever  be 
able  to  shake.  Of  all  European  peoples  they  thus 
stand  confessed  the  most  thoroughly  European  —  that  is 
the  most  frankly  barbarian  —  a  people  seeing  in  action 
the  only  cure  for  ills,  a  people  distrusting  all  doctrines 
as  the  devices  of  theorists  enunciated  for  the  purpose  of 
misleading  the  ignorant. 

Thus  it  happened  that  long  before  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  had  met,  and  that  marvellous  chapter  of  human 
activities  summed  up  in  one  word  "Napoleon"  had 
been  closed,  England  had  practically  completed  the 
work  which  more  than  made  up  for  the  loss  of  the 
American  colonies.  She  found  herself  in  the  possession 
of  a  new  vast  Empire.  Whilst  other  European  nations 
had  been  engaged  in  their  meticulous  and  never-ending 
discussions  regarding  international  leadership  and  the 
European  balance  of  power,  England  found  that  she 
had  won  a  wider  and  more  powerful  position  than 
Rome.  Europe  awoke  to  find  its  political  map  settled 
perhaps  for  all  time,  and  gradually  realised  with  dismay 
the  position  of  the  Island  Power. 

Separated  by  the  sea  from  the  turmoil  which  long 
distracted  Continental  Europe,  the  irresistible  impulse  of 
the  English  race  now  turned  men  in  ever-increasing 
numbers  to  regions  which   until  then  had   been  only 


82         THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

vaguely  understood.  Under  the  magic  hands  of  stern 
and  virile  conquerors,  Asia,  Australasia  and  Africa 
swung  the  pendulum  of  British  interests  to  the  Indian 
and  Pacific  oceans  and  thus  away  from  the  narrower 
Atlantic,  which,  from  being  the  touchstone  of  eighteenth 
century  supremacy,  had  become  only  the  commercial 
waterway  of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries.^ 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  the  world  is  more  interesting 
than  those  movements  which,  for  want  of  a  better  term, 
must  be  designated  in  the  language  of  physiology  as 
reflex  actions.  That  no  such  energy  as  has  been 
actually  witnessed  would  have  been  lavished  by  English 
hands  on  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  had  not  the  Western 

^  An  interesting  volume  could  be  written  showing  how,  with 
the  loss  of  the  original  English  empire  in  America  and  the  fierce  man- 
ner in  which  the  British  avenged  themselves  thereafter  for  this, 
America  was  effectively  isolated.  Americans  to-day  no  doubt 
fondly  imagine  that  it  was  the  pronouncement  of  President 
Monroe,  embodying  in  the  form  of  a  concrete  doctrine  what  had 
previously  been  vaguely  felt  as  a  necessity,  which  has  rendered  the 
American  Continent  immune  from  fresh  European  interference. 
It  is  nothing  of  the  sort,  for  natural  movements  are  not  arrested  by 
words.  It  was  the  action  of  England  itself,  determined  by 
politico-economic  considerations,  which  had  far  more  to  do  than 
anything  else  with  segregating  America  in  a  political  sense. 
Having  at  last  most  completely  beaten  her  rivals,  thanks  to  her 
sea-power,  she  suddenly  found  that  her  course  of  empire  had 
turned  eastward  and  not  westward.  Only  half-believing  what 
was  manifestly  true,  it  needed  the  entire  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  to  convince  her.  But  as  India  became  a  mighty  empire; 
as  Australia,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  and  the  great  chain  of 
commercial  entrepots  from  Aden  to  Hong  Kong  arose,  automatic- 
ally the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  the  classic  West  Indies,  scenes 
of  such  immortal  combats,  dropped  into  a  vague  political  backwater 
until  to-day  schoolboys  can  no  longer  understand  the  meaning 
of  eighteenth  century  history.  Strange  indeed  are  the  decrees 
of  Providence ! 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  83 

Hemisphere  been  partially  abandoned  in  acute  despond- 
ency, must  be  undoubted.  Possibly  Australia  and  New 
Zealand  would  have  been  colonised  no  matter  what  other 
regions  had  attracted  explorers,  colonists  and  capitalists: 
Africa  would  have  been  encroached  upon;  India  would 
have  been  steadily  conquered;  and  other  colonies  im- 
planted. Yet  the  assumption  may  be  permitted  that  had 
not  Washington  succeeded  in  securing  the  separation 
of  the  old  eighteenth  century  empire,  the  new  empire 
of  to-day  would  not  have  been  what  it  actually  is;  and 
that  British  energies  —  finding  full  scope  for  their 
highest  activity  in  a  vast  American  Dominion  —  would 
have  been  largely  engaged  in  making  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  a  British  lake. 

But  the  American  Revolution,  more  than  any  other 
movement  in  history,  revealed  the  Asiatic  destiny  of 
England,  and  by  diverting  those  endless  streams  of  men 
from  West  to  East  has  made  the  colour-question  a 
supreme  one  for  England.  The  dazzling  panorama  of 
events  which  is  unfolded  in  British  Asiatic  history  to-day 
makes  men  forget  that  rights  were  really  acquired  by 
the  most  primitive  and  unlawful  methods,  and  that 
hardly  a  conquest  in  the  East  but  has  been  stained  with 
deeds  such  as  those  with  which  the  memory  of  the  Caesars 
is  reproached.  The  distance  and  variety  of  the  continent 
of  Asia,  which  endow  it  with  such  an  infinite  and  inex- 
haustible charm,  has  in  the  past  made  the  application  of 
a  sound  public  morality  difficult;  the  task  of  raising 
the  magnificent  fabric  of  Western  sovereignty  upon  the 
dying  embers  of  the  gorgeous  empires  of  the  East  has 
been  pursued  with  no  regard  save  for  considerations 
similar  to  those  which  influenced  Charlemagne  a 
thousand  years  ago. 


84         THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR 

But  now  a  new  era  is  at  length  at  hand.  The  old 
conditions  have  disappeared.  Europe  and  Asia  —  and 
later  Europe  and  Africa  —  must  inevitably  return  to 
something  similar  to  the  relationship  once  existing 
between  West  and  East.  The  equality  between  the 
two  which  once  existed  will  surely  be  re-established  — 
the  relationship  which  has  now  definitely  existed  for 
more  than  four  centuries  and  which  owes  its  origin  to 
the  white  man's  sudden  conquest  of  the  ocean  and  his 
abandonment  of  land-routes  must  give  place  to  some- 
thing which  though  it  sounds  very  novel  is  really  a 
revival  of  something  very  old.  By  his  conquest  of  the 
sea,  the  white  man  gathered  wealth  from  far  and  wide 
and  shook  off  his  provincialism.  Knowledge  naturally 
followed;  with  knowledge  came  power;  and  this  power 
led  to  his  world-dominion.  Marvellous  indeed  is  it 
thus  to  follow  out  the  long  yet  eminently  simple  chain 
of  antecedents  which  brings  us  to  the  present  day. 

In  the  pages  that  follow  some  analysis  is  made  of  the 
tremendous  new  forces  at  work,  and  some  opinions  are 
ventured  which  in  the  light  of  experience  seem  sound, 
and  in  the  highest  sense  politic.  On  England  to-day 
hangs  in  all  these  questions  an  enormous  and  far-reach- 
ing responsibility;  and  on  her  decision  truly  rests  the 
peace  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  I 

HOW   COLOUR   DIVIDES   THE    WORLD   TO-DAY 

There  should  be  to-day  few  more  interesting  studies 
in  the  world  than  the  study  of  the  map  —  providing 
that  it  is  conducted  with  intelligence,  and  that  the  surface 
of  this  terrestrial  globe  presents  itself  to  the  eye  as 
something  more  than  a  series  of  charts  covered  with 
fantastic  blotches  of  colour  and  strangely  spelt  names. 
For  never  has  there  been  any  period  of  the  world's 
history  in  which  racial  problems  were  invested  with 
such  consummate  interest  as  they  now  are  —  never  has 
there  been  a  time  when  the  home  of  every  nation  had 
acquired  such  peculiar  importance  in  the  estimation  of 
every  other  nation.  The  map  outlines  clearly  the 
limits  of  each  and  every  such  individual  problem;  to 
maps  we  must  therefore  inevitably  turn.  On  all  sides, 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  new  and  disturbing 
elements  are  fast  arising  and  invite  the  most  serious 
consideration;  and  so  rapid  and  complex  is  the 
development  of  this  vast  movement  —  so  puzzling  and 
so  numerous  are  the  cross-currents — that  what  is  prog- 
nosticated one  year  is  often  falsified  the  very  next, 
whilst  yesterday's  impossibility  becomes,  through  some 
fortuitous   occurrence,   to-day's   firm   belief.     In   these 

85 


86        THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

circumstances,  it  is  small  wonder  that  even  the  most 
patient  brains  become  weary  of  such  a  political  phantas- 
magoria; and  that  the  most  just  statesmen  are  often 
inclined  to  seek  relief  by  cutting,  instead  of  untying, 
each  Gordian  knot.  When  such  a  variety  of  interests 
exists;  when  men's  ideas  and  ambitions  are  so 
different;  and  when  prejudices  are  still  so  powerful  a 
political  force  throughout  the  world,  this  is  perhaps 
only  as  it  must  be. 

Yet,  if  the  truth  were  known,  in  spite  of  all  apparent 
contradictions,  and  in  spite  of  much  inevitable  vague- 
ness in  many  matters,  there  is  small  doubt  that  a  big 
map  of  the  world  on  Mercator's  projection  should 
to-day  be  to  every  really  intelligent  person  something 
very  Hke  a  horoscope  of  the  human  race  —  a  horoscope, 
it  is  true,  not  cast  as  astrologers  ordain,  yet  nevertheless 
one  enabling  men  to  know  within  certain  definite 
limits  what  should  and  what  should  not  happen  to  the 
various  racial  divisions  and  groups  composing  the 
human  species.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  manner 
in  which  these  divisions  and  groups  are  now  distributed 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  has  become  virtually  an  index 
to  much  of  the  world's  future  history.  Such  a  state- 
ment may  sound,  at  the  first  blush,  presumptuous;  yet 
a  little  amplification  will  speedily  show  that  it  is  nothing 
but  a  sober  opinion. 

For  the  chiefest  and  most  important  fact  in  modern 
political  geography  —  the  fact  which  has  to  be  at  once 
seized  and  insisted  upon  —  is  that  the  grand  divisions 
and  dwelling-grounds  of  the  races  are  now  more  or  less 
settled  for  all  time.  The  era  of  vast  migrations  —  and 
therefore  of  vast  racial  conflicts  —  has  long  since  passed 
away,  and  wars  can  never  again  lead  to  those  strange 


I  THE   DIVISIONS   OF  COLOUR  87 

displacements  which  twenty  centuries  ago  were  common- 
places. It  is  inconceivable,  for  instance,  that  Europe 
should  ever  succumb  to  a  "black"  invasion,  or  that 
America  should  ever  become  a  yellow  man's  country; 
only  miraculous  and  unbelievable  events  could  bring 
about  such  things.  And  since  it  is  no  part  of  the 
business  of  the  student  to  believe  in  miracles,  a  detailed 
inquiry  cannot  consider  any  of  those  many  engaging 
theories  which  are  so  constantly  advanced  by  alarmists. 
It  may,  then,  be  laid  down  as  an  axiom  that,  within 
certain  limits,  the  future  of  all  races  is  now  fixed. 
That  is  equivalent  to  declaring  that  migrations  en  masse 
from  one  continent  to  another  having  become  im- 
possible —  save  where  such  migrations  are  nothing  but 
the  continuation  of  movements  long  in  progress  —  it 
will  in  future  only  be  possible  for  nations  to  win 
trifling  expansions  along  their  own  borders.  To  this 
rule  there  are  no  exceptions. 

The  grand  reason  for  the  migrations  of  history  —  and 
therefore  of  the  great  conflicts  which  ensued  in  days 
gone-by  —  was  very  simple.  The  world  was  somewhat 
empty;  there  was  an  appalling  difference  between  the 
narrow  civilised  centres  and  the  barbarians;  there 
existed  a  savage  contempt  for  life  and  property,  owing 
to  the  predominance  of  muscle  over  brain-power;  and 
even  in  the  well-settled  countries  of  the  classical  world, 
so  trifling  was  the  number  of  inhabitants  compared  to 
modern  populations,  that  they  were  generally  confined 
to  the  more  fertile  plains  and  valleys  and  to  a  few  dozen 
overgrown  cities. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that,  in  ancient  times,  nearly 
all  the  artificial  checks  which  now  exist  were  entirely 
lacking;   and  just  because  those  checks  were  lacking  no 


88        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

one  felt  any  necessity  to  stay  his  hand.  It  was  only 
natural,  then,  that  men,  as  they  increased  greatly  in 
numbers,  should  move  here  and  there  in  vast  irresistible 
hordes,  impelled  by  an  overpowering  natural  instinct  to 
seek  for  better  and  broader  lands  in  measure  as  their 
numbers  and  their  belief  in  their  own  strength  increased. 
This  movement  was  accelerated  because  it  was  almost 
universal  in  Europe  and  Asia,  as  well  as  in  parts  of 
Africa.  It  was  a  huge,  uncontrollable  settlement  which 
is  among  the  greatest  facts  in  history,  and  which  is  the 
foundation  for  the  present  position  of  the  races.  The 
almost  universal  pressure  of  those  distant  days  produced 
universal  movement.  Behind  every  horde  was  some 
other  horde,  filled  with  equally  predatory  instincts;  for 
one  to  advance  another  had  to  retreat;  and  for  any 
single  one  to  have  stood  still  would  have  been  as  much 
against  the  laws  of  self-preservation  as  against  the  laws 
of  nature.  Thus  —  as  a  bold  illustration  —  the  fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire  was  brought  about  as  much  by  the 
Huns,  who  pressed  on  the  Teutonic  or  Gothic  Bar- 
barians, as  by  anything  else;  and  that  is  exactly  why 
this  period  must  be  selected  as  the  period  when  —  racially 
—  the  foundations  of  Europe  were  laid.  It  was  the  time 
when  Europe  had  received  into  her  bosom  the  powerful 
race  stocks  which  were  destined  to  proclaim  her  suprem- 
acy. Though  in  Asia  and  Africa  the  movement  was 
very  different,  and  though  many  other  forces  were 
at  work,  in  most  regions  of  these  continents,  as  in 
Europe,  it  is  subsequent  to  the  birth  of  Christ  that  a 
permanent  settlement  was  commenced. 

Conditions  now  are  so  entirely  different  that  never 
again  can  it  happen  that  the  same  laws  operate.  To- 
day, though  the  world  is  not  yet  full  of  the  human 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR         89 

species,  nations  have  in  nearly  every  case  been  so  very 
long  settled  in  their  present  homes,  and  populations  have 
grown  so  enormously  great  and  are  still  growing  so 
rapidly,  that  it  is  possible  to  calculate  with  more  or  less 
mathematical  accuracy  exactly  when  there  should  be  one 
human  being  to  every  acre  of  arable  soil  in  the  world. 
This  day  is  fast  approaching.^  Indeed  so  rapidly  is  this 
movement  going  on  that  numbers  alone  must  make 
great  displacements  of  men  impossible  in  the  near 
future.  These  facts,  then,  bury  ancient  history  for  ever; 
they  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  era,  in  which,  though 
the  place  of  might  may  not  completely  be  taken  by 
right,  political  expediency  will  with  ever-growing  voice 

^  Those  pessimists  who  talk  lightly  about  the  over-population 
of  the  world  should  seek  comfort  from  the  philosophy  of  statistics. 
There  seems  little  doubt  that  the  world  is  not  only  capable  of 
easily  supporting  4,000  million  souls  —  which  should  be  the 
approximate  population  in  the  year  2000  —  but  that,  without 
taking  into  account  what  new  scientific  discoveries  may  bring 
about,  the  wheat  area  of  the  world  is  capable  of  supporting  twice 
or  thrice  that  number. 

To  take  but  the  single  example  of  the  Canadian  North-West. 
Arable  land  of  the  finest  quality  extends  for  500  miles  north  of  Ed- 
monton, making  the  total  area  of  the  three  Prairie  Provinces 
available  for  cultivation  255  millions  of  acres.  Assuming  that 
only  100  million  acres  are  sown  in  wheat,  and  remembering  that 
the  7  million  acres  now  under  cultivation  produce  115,000,000 
bushels,  at  least  1,600,000,000  bushels  could  be  produced  by  the 
Canadian  North-West,  a  yield  equal  to  half  the  present  total  pro- 
duction of  the  world !  Similarly  Argentina  to-day  has  only  little 
more  than  10  per  cent,  of  her  250,000,000  acres  of  arable  land  under 
cultivation,  producing  about  200,000,000  bushels  of  wheat,  whilst 
two  per  cent,  probably  of  Siberia  is  growing  grain.  Summing  up, 
it  is  probable  that  these  three  wheat-growing  regions,  Canada,  Ar- 
gentina and  Siberia,  will  one  day  produce  sufficient  grain  to  nourish 
a  white  population  numbered  in  thousands  of  millions.  More  it 
is   surely  unnecessary  to   say. 


90        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

counsel  prudence  and  restraint,  and  forbid  all  great 
changes.  Forms  of  government  and  rulers  may  change; 
races  can  no  longer  change  their  homes. ^ 

For  real  frontiers  —  real  barriers  to  the  swaying  to 
and  fro  of  peoples  —  are  no  longer  rivers,  or  mountains, 
or  seas,  or  any  of  those  physical  features  still  referred 
to  in  geography-books.  These  are  only  the  frontiers  of 
savages ;  the  real  frontiers  of  civilisation  are  formed  by 
masses  of  men  distributed  in  proper  density,  highly 
civilised,  irrevocably  locked  to  the  soil  by  their  history 
and  their  culture,  and  sufficiently  w^arlike  to  make  their 
physical  boundaries  respected  should  wanton  aggression 
menace  them.  It  is  flesh  and  blood,  then,  that  forms 
true  modern  barriers;  and  when  that  flesh  and  blood 
shows  an  indisputable  title,  no  one  will  dare  to 
dispute  it. 

Yet  just  because  this  is  so,  just  because  a  new  position 
is  being  reached  throughout  the  world,  with  not  merely 
one  Monroe  doctrine,  but  fifty  of  such  doctrines,  it  is 
important  to  remember,  before  proceeding  any  further 
in  this  inquiry,  that  even  in  Europe  a  general  rectifica- 
tion of  frontiers  undoubtedly  has  still  to  come.  It  is 
plain  indeed  that  until  that  rectification  has  everywhere 
been  carried  out,  all  talk  of  arbitrating  vital  inter- 
national differences  must  necessarily  be  illusory.  A  deep 
instinct  will  continue  to  push  men  to  substitute  for  the 
purely  political  demarcations  which  have  come  down 

*  Though  certain  districts  in  India  are  commonly  quoted  as  the 
most  densely  populated  regions  in  the  world,  it  is  well  to  note  that 
the  island  of  Barbados  supports  a  population  which  in  1901  worked 
out  to  1,178  persons  per  square  mile.  To-day  that  figure  must  ex- 
ceed 1,200  per  square  mile  —  which  approaches  the  maximum  num- 
ber which  even  the  most  fertile  soil  in  the  world  is  capable  of 
supporting. 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR         91 

from  other  days  a  new  class  which  may  well  be  called 
racial  demarcations.  That  such  demarcations  are 
necessarily  blurred  is  no  matter;  this  only  adds  one 
more  difficulty  to  a  question  which  force  may  attempt 
to  solve.  It  is  this  knowledge  —  that  racial  instinct  and 
racial  pride  ignore  political  boundaries  —  which  is  the 
nightmare  of  statesmen. 

Thus,  though  the  forcible  acquisition  by  Germany  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  is  still  looked  upon  by  Frenchmen  as 
an  act  of  bare-faced  territorial  robbery,  which  some  yet 
dream  of  avenging,  it  is  important  to  remember  that 
racially  it  was  an  act  of  restitution  —  that  is,  the  resto- 
ration of  an  old  frontier-line.  Therefore,  although  it  has 
been  laid  down  as  an  axiom  at  the  beginning  of  this  argu- 
ment that  the  era  of  migrations  is  long  since  past,  none 
the  less  it  is  equally  true  that  no  race  to-day,  any  more 
than  yesterday,  will  be  content  permanently  to  accept 
an  arbitrary  frontier-line  won  by  force  of  arms  in  more 
or  less  modern  times,  when  across  that  frontier  remain 
millions  of  men  of  the  same  blood.  In  geo-politics  this  is 
perhaps  the  most  important  minor  question  of  the  day.  It 
is  for  this  reason  that  Italian  Irredentists  dream  of  one  day 
rescuing  their  brothers  on  the  other  side  of  the  Adriatic. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  Roumanians  jealously  eye  the 
Austrian  province  of  Transylvania;  that  Bulgarians 
gaze  across  the  southern  line  of  Eastern  Roumelia  and 
believe  that  the  days  are  not  far  distant  when  the  boun- 
daries laid  down  in  the  inoperative  Russo-Turkish 
Treaty  of  San  Stefano  may  be  claimed  by  them.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  quote  further  cases :  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  Germans,  Greeks,  Russians,  Servians,  Italians, 
Austrians,  and  many  others  in  Europe,  believe  that  they 
have  not  yet  gained  their  true  and  final  frontiers  — 


92        THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

because  across  their  political  boundaries  are  men  of  the 
same  race  and  speech,  surrendered  to  the  rule  of  others 
by  former  conquests.  When  the  balance  of  numbers 
was  very  different  from  what  it  is  to-day;  when  nation- 
ality was  still  largely  a  provincial  feeling,  or  a  so-called 
regionalism;  when  men's  horizons  were  bounded  by  the 
distance  they  could  see  with  the  naked  eye;  when  the 
question  of  daily  bread  was  the  supreme  question  —  then 
was  it  that  such  vital  problems  of  high  politics  were 
abandoned  to  the  care  of  rulers.  To-day  that  is  no- 
where any  longer  true :  all  men  —  or  nearly  all  —  have 
risen  from  their  low  estate,  and  from  now  on  the  millions 
will  make  or  mar  their  country.  It  may  thus  be 
laid  down  as  a  second  axiom  that  every  nation  which 
has  a  definite  sense  of  nationality  and  is  virile — the  Bul- 
gars,  for  instance  —  will  attempt  sooner  or  later  a 
forcible  frontier-rectification :  whilst,  conversely,  every 
nation  that  is  deficient  in  a  sense  of  nationality,  and  is 
not  virile  —  that  is,  declines  in  numbers  —  will  have  its 
frontiers  pushed  back.^  That  is  the  second  great  point 
it  is  necessary  here  to  emphasise.     It  greatly  affects  the 

^  In  connection  with  the  question  of  the  possible  overflow  of 
Germans  into  other  countries,  a  note  on  the  numbers  of  foreigners 
domiciled  in  France  and  Germany  is  interesting  as  showing  the  prob- 
able natural  future  movements.  In  1901  there  were  1,033,871 
foreigners  in  France  —  Belgians  and  Italians  accounting  for  sixty- 
five  per  cent.  But  in  1905  Germany  herself  contained  1,028,560 
subjects  of  foreign  Powers  —  fifty  per  cent,  being  Austrians  or  men 
of  the  same  ethnic  stock.  Austria  has  but  a  small  number  of 
foreigners  —  Italy  and  Spain  scarcely  any  at  all. 

From  this  it  seems  probable  that  for  many  years  Italy  and 
Belgium  rather  than  Germany  will  send  their  overflow  into  France; 
and  that  until  Germany's  density  of  population  is  twice  as  heavy 
as  it  is  to-day,  so-called  over-population  will  not  be  a  question  of 
practical  politics  in  that  country. 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR         93 

first  point,  because  it  partially  re-opens  under  a  new 
form  in  Europe  a  question  which  seems  at  first  sight 
closed  —  that  is,  racial  expansion. 

The  reason  why  a  proper  study  of  population  and 
races  is  as  important  to-day  as  that  of  the  physical 
features  of  the  world  should  now  be  amply  clear.  In 
the  modern  world  it  is  in  the  debatable  regions  —  where 
what  may  be  called  a  permanent  settlement  of  frontier- 
lines  has  not  yet  been  brought  about  —  that  there  will 
be  a  constant  swaying  to  and  fro,  most  probably 
accompanied  by  bloody  wars,  until  density  of  popula- 
tion, and  the  consequent  struggle  for  existence,  either 
blots  out  nationality  or  makes  its  claims  undeniable. 
In  Europe  there  will  be  not  so  much  of  this,  owing  to 
the  existence  of  many  artificial  checks  and  to  the 
growth  of  that  modern  cosmopolitanism  which,  mixed 
with  socialism,  is  rapidly  tending  to  obliterate  so  many 
old  differences.  But  in  Asia  —  that  is,  along  Asiatic 
frontiers  —  where  the  question  of  a  different  colour  also 
intrudes,  there  are  immense  regions,  such  as  the  entire 
Amur  country,  the  wastes  of  Central  Asia,  Eastern 
Turkestan,  Persia,  and  Asia  Minor,  where  nothing  like 
permanent  frontier-lines  have  yet  been  estabHshed; 
where  nature  cries  aloud  for  the  regulating  hand  of  man ; 
where,  since  modern  civilisation  and  culture  are 
practically  non-existent,  the  people  are  only  swayed  by 
unreasoning  passions;  where,  because  the  new  voice 
of  reason  cannot  be  listened  to,  the  old  voice  of  force 
will   still   be   heard. ^     It  is   self-evident  that  in   these 

^  In  this  connection  it  is  useful  to  point  to  the  islands  of  the  Malay 
archipelago,  which  cover  an  extent  of  land  equal  to  half  Eu- 
rope, and  which  are  at  present  most  imperfectly  peopled  by  a 
population    numbering    40,ooo,cx)0.     It    has    been    calculated    that 


94        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

regions  fierce  conflicts  must  occur  again  and  again. 
And  it  is  one  of  the  most  significant  facts  in  modern 
political  geography  that  Russia  must  be  more  involved 
in  all  these  contests  than  any  other  white  nation, 
because  her  frontier  marches  sheer  across  Asia  to  the 
Pacific,  and  forms  the  natural  advance-guard  of  the 
white  man. 

In  the  other  main  regions  of  the  world  —  in  the 
American  Continent,  in  Africa,  in  Australia,  and  in  the 
remaining  island  groups  —  no  great  race-conflict,  having 
for  object  the  final  mastery  of  the  soil,  should 
arise,  unless  Europe,  and  what  it  stands  for,  itself 
falls.  The  question  of  the  mastery  has  already  been 
decided. 

Thus  the  future  of  the  entire  American  Continent  is 
now  definitely  settled,  so  far  as  human  foresight  can 
estimate,  though  the  present  settlement  is  less  than  400 
years  old.  America,  when  it  was  discovered,  was  well- 
named  the  New  World :  it  was  a  world  standing  utterly 
cut  off^  from  Asia  —  save  in  the  Polar  zone  —  by  thou- 
sands of  miles  of  ocean,  and  sufficiently  distant  from 
Europe  and  Africa  to  have  remained  equally  eflPectively 
isolated  during  long  ages.  When  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury Fate  willed  that  white  men  should  begin  to  stream 
across  the  Atlantic,  it  became  certain  that,  as  has  hap- 
pened in  other  parts  of  the  world,  this  race  would  colo- 
nise and,  in  the  end,  completely  dominate  the  entire 
temperate  zones  both  north  and  south  of  the  equator. 

at  least  200,000,000  people  might  settle  on  the  four  islands  of 
Celebes,  Sumatra,  New  Guinea  and  Borneo.  These  four  islands 
have  an  area  of  837,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  not 
more  than  eight  or  nine  millions.  It  is  plain  that  some  day  this  great 
and  fertile  chain  of  islands  lying  between  Australia  and  Asia  will 
have  very  great  importance. 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR  95 

What  was  not  certain  in  the  first  stages  of  this  colonisa- 
tion was  what  was  to  be  the  future  of  those  vast  regions 
which  enjoyed  a  cHmate  sufficiently  tropical  to  have 
called  forth  a  native  civilisation  reminiscent  of  that  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  passage  of  four  hundred 
years  —  or  twelve  generations  —  has  been  sufficient  to 
prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  future  of  the  races 
will  be  decided  in  the  American  Continent  by  climatic 
considerations,  which  here  as  elsewhere  establish  certain 
definite  frontiers. 

Thus  North  America  to  the  Mexican  frontier  will  be 
white,  save  for  a  dense  belt  extending  mainly  round 
the  gulf  of  Florida,  and  comprising  all  the  low-lying 
unhealthy  land,  which  will  be  increasingly  surrendered 
to  the  negro.  From  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Mexican 
frontier  to  the  southern  frontiers  of  Bolivia  (that  is,  for 
some  twenty-three  degrees  on  each  side  of  the  equator), 
the  bulk  of  the  population  must  be  coloured  —  that  is, 
of  mixed  Indian  blood  —  not  forgetting  that  in  Brazil, 
as  in  the  United  States,  there  will  grow  an  ever  more 
formidable  black  belt,  consisting  of  the  descendants  of 
African  slaves.  It  is  an  illuminating  fact  that  the  limits 
of  this  domination  of  coloured  blood  are  set  with  strange 
exactitude  by  the  boundaries  of  the  so-called  "torrid 
zone"  —  a  zone  about  47  degrees  wide,  which  all  the 
world  over  is  in  the  nature  of  forbidden  land  to  the 
white  man.  Save,  then,  for  Argentine,  the  coast 
districts  of  Brazil,  and  the  coastline  of  Chili,  the  pure- 
bred white  man  can  only  remain  in  so-called  Latin 
America  in  a  constantly  decreasing  minority. 

In  Australia,  too,  the  future  is  quite  decided.  There 
—  unless  an  unbelievable  race  suicide,  of  which  some 
see  signs  to-day,  takes  place  —  it  has  been  secured  that  a 


96        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

white  man's  home  shall  exist  —  that  is,  a  land  ru/ed  and 
controlled  by  white  men.  The  one  problem  of 
Australia  is  the  problem  of  the  Northern  Territory  —  a 
vast  tropical  region,  which  is  suitable  only  for  a  dark- 
skinned  race,  but  which  is  at  present  virtually  unin- 
habited, because  the  white  man  can  barely  live  there  and 
yet  forbids  the  infiltration  of  any  other  race,  because  he 
fears,  with  that  instinctive  fear  which  nothing  can 
eradicate,  that  the  very  moment  such  a  movement 
begins  Australia  will  have  a  colour  problem  far  more 
acute  than  the  American  problem  and  probably  as 
insoluble  as  the  South  African  problem,  where  the 
black  menace  must  some  day  weld  the  white  minority 
together  in  a  manner  not  yet  understood. 

For  Africa  —  with  the  exception  of  this  region  in  the 
extreme  south  and  a  small  portion  of  Algeria,  where 
powerful  minorities  still  act  in  such  a  way  as  to  decide 
the  destinies  of  the  dormant  majorities  —  is  purely  a 
coloured  man's  continent;  a  land  where  no  other  man 
may  thrive;  a  land  where  climate  is  absolute  master. 
Certain  plateaux  of  East  Africa  may  be  healthy;  other 
regions  may  seem  attractive  as  colonising  areas;  yet 
nothing  can  really  change  the  pregnant  fact  that  Africa 
as  a  whole  is  a  black  man's  country,  which  only  certain 
Asiatic  races,  such  as  the  Arabs,  can  really  invade  and 
conquer  by  that  powerful  levelling  and  assimilating 
influence,  Islamism.  Here,  then,  the  contest  of  the 
future,  save  in  two  narrow  regions,  can  only  be  political 
—  the  limits  of  racial  conquest  are  already  clearly 
marked.  Thus  it  is  not  in  America,  or  in  Australia,  or 
in  Africa,  that  any  great  clash  can  occur. 

The  main  racial  contest  —  a  contest  which  must  be 
conducted  not  only  along  frontiers,  but  in  the  heart  of 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF   COLOUR         97 

densely-populated  countries  as  well  —  can  only  be 
between  the  old  antagonists,  Europe  and  Asia.  That 
this  is  both  natural  and  logical  cannot  be  gainsaid,  for 
two  simple  reasons  —  first,  that  Europe  and  Asia  form 
really  one  continent  containing  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  the  population  of  the  world;  and  second, 
that  contact  between  the  two  —  as  well  as  between  both 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  —  has  been  continuous  for 
thousands  of  years,  it  having  been  the  action  and  re- 
action between  the  two  which  has  produced  all  the 
world's  great  movements.  It  seems  impossible  for  the 
real  frontiers  between  the  two  to  be  deliminated,  or  for 
their  growing  relations  to  be  remodelled  on  a  permanent 
basis,  until  populations  grow  much  vaster  than  they  are 
at  present  and  completely  fill  up  all  empty  places,  and 
until  the  standard  of  Hving  and  the  standard  of  strength 
approximate  much  more  closely  than  they  do  at  present. 
In  the  past  Europe  has  dominated  Asia :  Asia  cannot 
any  longer  permit  that  ancient  state  of  affairs,  but 
Asia  is  slow  to  decide  and  slower  to  act.  With  her, 
many  disabilities  exist  which  had  never  had  place  in  the 
case  of  Europe.  She  for  ever  carries  a  burden  which 
is  the  secret  of  much  of  her  past  immovability  —  the 
burden  of  climate  —  and  no  matter  how  greatly  she 
may  exert  herself,  she  can  only  imitate  Europe  up 
to  a  certain  point,  and  never  beyond.  On  her  weight 
of  numbers  and  her  cunning  she  must  rely  to  offset  a 
permanent  inferiority  in  many  vital  things.  All  this  is 
now  well  understood,^ 

*  In  pondering  over  this  subject  the  writer  recalls  to  mind  the 
melancholy  sight  of  masses  of  Chinese  slain  in  1900.  The 
essential  difference  between  Europe  and  Asia  is  never  made 
clearer  than  in  the  sight  of  dead  men  when  lying  in  any  number. 


98        THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         cii. 

This  struggle,  however,  will  approach  slowly  and 
methodically,  and  not  rapidly  and  dramatically  as  past 
struggles  have  done.  Every  day  will  bring  nearer  the 
inevitable  settling  day,  but  tens  of  thousands  of  days 
must  elapse  before  even  the  true  outlines  are  made 
clear.  A  hundred  minor  questions  will  engage  the 
world's  attention  before  the  main  problem  rises  like  a 
mountain  before  all  eyes;  and  according  to  the  political 
wisdom  which  is  now  shown  in  dealing  with  these 
minor  difficulties,  so  will  the  final  settlement  be 
consummated. 

At  the  same  time  that  there  is  this  large  clash  of 
conflicting  ideals  looming  up  —  this  clash  of  two 
necessarily  different  civilisations,  which  is  to  be  the 
mighty  problem  of  the  future  —  another  racial  struggle 
of  a  very  different  nature  has  already  begun.  This 
question  is  far  more  subtle  and  already  considerably 
complicates  the  other  problem.  Briefly,  a  struggle  has 
begun  between  the  white  man  and  all  the  other  men  of 
the  world  to  decide  whether  non-white  men  —  that  is, 
yellow  men,  or  brown  men,  or  black  men  —  may  or  may 
not  invade  the  white  man's  countries  in  order  there  to 
gain  their  livelihood.  The  standard  of  living  being 
low  in  the  lands  of  coloured  men  and  high  in  the  lands 
of  the  white  man,  it  has  naturally  followed  that  it  has 
been  in  the  highest  degree  attractive  for  men  of  colour 
during  the  past  few  decades  to  proceed  to  regions  where 

The  vigorous  white  man  even  in  death  possesses  a  certain  majesty 
of  form  —  a  certain  resolution  —  which  is  totally  lacking  in  the  rice- 
fed  Asiatic.  When  he  leaves  this  world,  the  latter  seems  to  shrink  to 
a  very  small  measure  —  to  be  far  weaker  than  the  white  man,  even 
when  the  frame  is  nothing  but  a  shell  from  which  the  spirit  has  fled. 
Is  not  this  in  itself  a  lasting  commentary  on  the  history  of  the  conflict 
between  Europe  and  Asia  ? 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR         99 

their  labour  is  rewarded  on  a  scale  far  above  their 
actual  requirements  —  that  is,  on  the  white  man's  scale. 
This  simple  economic  truth  creates  the  inevitable 
contest  which  has  for  years  filled  all  the  countries 
bordering  on  the  Pacific  with  great  dread;  and  which, 
in  spite  of  the  temporary  truce  which  the  so-called 
"Exclusion  Policy"  has  now  enforced,  will  go  much 
farther  than  it  has  yet  gone.  This  contest,  being  in 
the  nature  of  an  industrial  struggle,  is  to  a  large  extent 
an  artificial  one  and  can  probably  be  successfully 
checked  for  a  number  of  years  by  artificial  means  — 
that  is,  so  long  as  great  passions  are  not  openly 
aroused. 

But  it  is  well  to  understand  at  once  that  it  is  made 
peculiarly  hazardous  for  the  white  man,  not  because  he 
is  not  able  to  fight  it  in  the  face  of  all  difficulties,  not 
because  it  is  beyond  his  strength  to  check  it,  but  because 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  Asiatic  and  African  worlds, 
he  is  still  playing  his  old-world  role  of  conqueror,  and 
ruling  over  vast  masses  of  the  world's  coloured  popula- 
tion virtually  by  force.  That  is  the  real  reason  why 
this  struggle  must  in  the  end  prove  highly  dangerous. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  white  man  has  begun  to  refuse  to 
allow  coloured  men  of  any  description  to  enter  his 
countries  in  large  numbers;  on  the  other  hand,  he 
continues  to  rule  as  conqueror  immense  areas  of  the 
world,  the  soil  of  which  nourishes  autochthonous  popula- 
tions having  little  or  nothing  in  common  with  him,  and 
therefore  regarding  his  dominion  with  a  natural  and 
growing  aversion. 

But  there  is  more  than  this  - —  more  to  complicate  a 
confused  condition  of  affairs;  more  to  render  forcible 
adjustment  in  the  future  more  than  likely.     The  right 


100      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

of  eminent  domain  which  the  European  thus  exercises 
in  so  many  parts  of  the  coloured  world  was  in  nearly 
every  case  forcibly  acquired  in  times  past,  when  his 
superiority  in  the  arts  of  war  was  so  marked  that  a  few 
fierce  fights  with  thousands  beat  down  opposition  and 
forced  tens  of  millions  permanently  to  acknowledge  the 
rule  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  them  in  all  the 
essentials  of  Hfe  —  that  is,  in  colour  and  in  creed,  and 
therefore  in  ethics  and  in  ideals.  Nowhere  can  this 
truth  be  better  seen  than  in  India,  where  three  hundred 
millions  of  people  bow  to  a  rule  which  was  imposed  on 
them  as  a  result  of  a  series  of  modest  victories. 

In  this  great  work  of  implanting  everywhere  the 
standards  of  Christendom,  nearly  all  the  important 
countries  of  Europe  have  shared  at  one  time  or  another; 
for  since  the  days  when  Spain  and  Portugal  claimed  the 
right  to  divide  the  entire  uncharted  world  by  Papal  Bull, 
the  overspilling  of  white  men  as  relentless  conquerors  has 
been  a  continuous  movement.  Holland,  France,  Eng- 
land, Germany,  and  even  the  United  States,  have  carried 
on  this  overseas  work  in  every  direction;  whilst, 
moving  by  land,  like  some  strange  relentless  Behemoth, 
Russia  has  never  ceased  conquering  and  building  in 
Asia  since  the  days  of  the  first  little  Czars. 

Thus  for  four  centuries  it  has  happened  that  no  sooner 
has  one  white  Power  lost  the  strength  to  make  con- 
quests in  alien  land  than  other  white  Powers  —  vigorous, 
audacious,  ambitious  —  have  arisen  and  carried  the 
torch  farther  than  anyone  previously  dreamed  of  doing. 
To-day  the  position  is  entirely  illogical  from  the  point 
of  view  of  Asiatics  as  well  as  all  other  enlightened 
coloured  peoples;  for  whilst  the  white  man  now  pro- 
claims the  reign  of  justice  and  the  equality  of  man,  in 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        101 

alien  lands  he  still  rigidly  adheres,  in  everything  that 
concerns  his  own  interests,  to  results  achieved  under 
very  different  laws.  And  it  is  important  to  note  that 
where  logic  ceases,  brute  force  and  passion  are  apt 
magically  to  appear.  Inevitably  must  it  follow  that 
the  world  of  non-whites  will  make  the  position  of  the 
white  races  beyond  their  own  boundaries  more  and  more 
precarious.  For  matters  have  vastly  changed  since  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  the  main,  continental  Europe 
is  no  longer  in  the  happy  position  it  once  occupied. 
Save  for  Russia,  this  narrow  continent  is  almost  entirely 
occupied  with  questions  arising  primarily  from  Euro- 
pean frontier-contact  —  that  is,  with  the  question  of  so- 
called  balance  of  power.  So  far  as  concerns  the  outer 
world  —  the  world  of  coloured  men  —  this  European 
rivalry  has  but  little  meaning;  the  only  two  countries 
of  Europe  which  to  the  men  of  East  are  World-Powers 
—  Powers  whose  destinies  are  bound  up  with  the 
destinies  of  Asia  —  are  England  and  Russia.  The  first 
escapes  from  the  European  imbroglio  by  sea,  the  second 
by  land;  and  because  they  can  do  this,  their  inter- 
national value  must  be  assessed  in  different  terms  from 
those  which  are  employed  in  the  case  of  all  other 
European  countries.  Nowhere  is  this  better  under- 
stood than  in  Eastern  Asia  to-day. 

When  we  come  to  consider  figures  and  the  numerical 
strength  of  these  opposing  elements,  when  we  remember 
the  sapient  saying,  that  Providence  is  on  the  side  of  the 
big  battaHons,  the  feeling  of  apprehension  as  to  the  out- 
come of  the  ultimate  struggle  between  Europe  and  Asia 
can  only  deepen.  It  is  to-day  a  most  disconcerting  fact 
that  the  white  world  is  far  weaker  than  the  coloured 
world;    and  not  only  weaker  in  numbers  but  far  more 


102      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

divided  against  itself — because  of  the  historical  in- 
fluence of  the  European  doctrine  of  force  —  than  is  the 
coloured  world.  The  figures  appended  below,  giving 
summaries  of  population  based  on  the  latest  statistics, 
are  in  many  ways  starthng,  especially  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  to-day  few  white  Powers  are  vitally  interested 
in  the  colour  problem.  It  is  England,  indeed,  who  bears 
the  main  burden. 


White 


G)loured 


I. 

2. 

3- 
4- 
S- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 

lO. 

II. 

12. 


EUROPE   AND   ASIA. 

A  Comparison  of  Populations. 

Europe. 


1.  Russia       

2.  Germany        

3.  Austria-Hungary 

4.  Great  Britain 

5.  France       

6.  Italy     

7.  Spain         

8.  Belgium 

9.  Rumania        

10.  Portugal         

11.  Netherlands        

12.  Sweden 

13.  Bulgaria         

14.  Switzerland         

15.  Turkey  (Non-Mohammedan  pop.) 

16.  Norway 

17.  Denmark        

18.  Servna        

19.  Greece       

20.  Montenegro        

Total       


Asia. 

China  and  Dependencies  .  .  . 
India  and  Dependencies  .  .  . 
Japan  and  Dependencies      .     .     . 

Dutch  East  Indies 

Turkey  in  .^sia        

Persia        

Indo-China         

Siam 

Afghanistan  and  Himalayan  States 

Philippines 

Malay  States 

Borneo  and  other  smaller  island 


groups 
Total 


150,000,000 

63,000,000 

49,000,000 

45,000,000 

39,000,000 

36,000,000 

20,000,000 

7,500,000 

6,500,000 

6,000,000 

6,500,000 

5,500,000 

4,000,000 

3,500,000 

3,000,000 

2,500,000 

2,500,000 

2,500,000 

2,500,000 

250,000 

454,750,000 


450,000,000 

310,000,000 

65,000,000 

38,000,000 

25,000,000 

10,000,000 

20,000,000 

8,000,000 

10,000,000 

8,000,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 
947,000,000 


I  THE    DIVISIONS   OF   COLOUR        103 

From  these  tables  it  will  be  apparent  that,  as  nearly 
as  can  be  calculated,  the  population  of  Europe  —  in 
which  term  Siberia  is  now  ethnically  included  —  is  455 
millions,  whilst  the  population  of  Asia  is  947  millions. 
Asiatics,  therefore,  already  outnumber  Europeans  by 
two  to  one;  and  since  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
population  of  Asia  is  now  growing  much  more  rapidly 
than  the  population  of  Europe,  it  seems  clear  that  the 
passage  of  each  decade  will  emphasise  more  and  more 
this  remarkable  discrepancy  between  the  two  rivals. 

There  is  another  point.  Of  this  great  mass  of  455 
million  highly-civilised  Europeans,  only  half  at  the 
highest  estimate  is  interested  in  any  way  whatsoever  in 
Asiatic  problems  —  that  is,  in  the  question  of  what  is  to 
be  the  political  status  in  the  near  future  of  a  thousand 
million  human  beings.  For  of  the  twenty  countries  of 
Europe,  only  four  —  Russia,  Great  Britain,  France  and 
Holland  —  have  to-day  valuable  stakes  in  Asia ;  to  these 
four  Powers  can  be  added,  with  a  reservation,  the  United 
States,  because  of  her  possession  of  the  Philippines. 
Other  countries,  such  as  Germany,  cannot  be  placed  in 
the  same  category;  for  their  interests  are  still  mainly 
commercial  and  not  territorial,  and  the  rise  of  modern 
Asia  cannot  mean  so  much  to  them  as  to  the  colonial 
Powers,  no  matter  in  what  striking  allegories  the  Ger- 
man Emperor's  reputed  solicitude  for  the  fate  of  Europe 
may  express  itself.  Unless,  then,  Germany  takes  the 
place  Holland  now  occupies,  Germany  is  not  a  vital 
factor.  Europe  will  never  match  its  strength  with 
Asia  under  one  banner  as  in  the  days  of  the  Crusades : 
not  only  is  Europe  divided,  but  it  must  remain  divided. 
Externally  the  position  of  Europe  to-day  is  exactly 
similar  to  what  it  was  when  the  Turkish  conquest  of 


104      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Constantinople  seemed  to  threaten  all  Christendom. 
Then  the  attempts  made  to  resuscitate  the  simultaneous 
efforts  of  the  days  of  the  Crusades  were  wholly  nugatory; 
Europe  had  grown  beyond  such  primitive  racial  methods, 
Europe  had  grown  too  old.  And  just  as  that  was  true 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  so  in  the  twentieth  century  is  it 
certain  that  no  combination  of  white  Powers  will  come 
to  the  succour  of  another  white  Power.  It  is  well  that 
these  simple  things  should  be  remembered,  not  only  in 
reference  to  Russia,  but  in  reference  to  England;  for 
even  what  was  possible  as  recently  as  fifteen  years  ago, 
has  to-day  become  impossible.  Epoch-making  history 
has  been  chronicled  since  then. 

There  is  still  another  point  which  must  be  here 
emphasised,  in  view  of  the  great  nationalist  movement 
now  gathering  ever  greater  strength  from  the  shores  of 
the  Bosphorus  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  that 
Asia  still  remains  largely  independent  of  the  white  man, 
though  the  white  man  commands  the  ocean  and  all 
sea-approaches.  Asia  is  really  divided  into  almost  two 
equal  portions  —  the  subjected  portion  and  the  non- 
subjected  portion.  Of  the  947  millions  living  in  the 
twelve  different  countries  which  have  been  enumerated, 
only  some  400  millions  actually  acknowledge  the  sway 
of  the  white  conqueror:  the  other  547  millions  are 
completely  free.  And  of  these  400  millions  who  live 
in  the  subjected  portions,  some  310  millions  have 
England  as  overlord.     These  are  striking  facts. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  is  a  strange  dis- 
similarity existing  between  the  political  conditions  in 
Asiatic  countries  —  a  dissimilarity  which  tends  to 
increase  the  dangers  arising  from  a  state  of  affairs 
largely  artificial,  and  which,  indeed,  makes  the  ferment 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        105 

of  the  day  one  which  cannot  be  easily  dealt  with,  since 
there  is  no  Asiatic  country  which  is  bound  to  its 
European  masters  by  anything  but  fear.  The  idea  that 
any  kind  of  loyalty  can  be  fostered  under  a  system 
resembling  the  Roman  system  is  only  held  by  those 
who  in  the  practical  business  of  life  have  much  to  learn. 
It  is  fear  —  and  largely  traditional  fear  —  which  in  Asia 
is  the  white  man's  chief  safeguard;  and  on  such  an 
emotion  no  permanent  edifice  can  be  reared.  The 
table  which  follows  would  seem  to  show  that  the 
attention  of  political  students  should  be  concentrated 
more  on  Eastern  Asia  than  elsewhere,  since  the  greatest 
mass  of  non-subjected  Asiatics  dwell  on  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  —  where  they  are  ethnically  more  or  less 
homogeneous,  and  where  climatically  they  are  sub- 
mitted to  what  may  be  called  non-divergent  conditions. 

NON-SUBJECTED   ASIA. 

I.   China  and  Dependencies 450,000,000 

Far  East  ]  2.  Japan  and  Dependencies 65,000,000 

3.   Siam 8,000,000 


Near  and 
Middle  East 


4.  Turkey  in  Asia 25,000,000 

5.  Persia       10,000,000 

6.  Afghanistan  and  Himalayan  States  .     .  10,000,000 

Total 568,000,000 


Now,  disregarding  the  three  which  can  only  have 
what  may  be  called  local  political  importance  —  Persia, 
because  it  has  long  fallen  into  that  decay  which 
presages  absorption  by  a  stronger  Power;  Afghanistan, 
because  its  people  are  politically  and  geographically 
bound  to  a  policy  of  seclusion;  Siam,  because  it  is 
merely  a  political  enclave  —  there  remain  three  Asiatic 
countries  which  have  great  military  potentiality  beyond 
their  own  frontiers  —  China,  Japan  and  Turkey;  and 
all  of  these  are  free  from  Europe's  dominion.     It  must 


106      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

be  counted  a  happy  circumstance  for  the  white  man 
that  the  first  two  should  be  separated  from  the  third 
by  the  breadth  of  all  Asia  :  for  were  these  three  nations 
grouped  together,  they  would  form  a  combination  more 
powerful  than  any  European  triplice. 

For,  of  this  non-subjected  Asia,  Japan  and  Turkey 
have  within  recent  years  developed  an  amount  of 
military  and  political  energy  which  has  filled  all 
observers  with  astonishment.  Yet  it  is  significant  that 
Japan  is  the  one  country  above  all  others  on  which  the 
stigma  of  colour  has  pressed  the  most  heavily  of  late 
years;  and  it  is  this  stigma  which  must  remain  a  spur 
to  the  greatest  endeavours,  long  after  purely  political 
disabilities  have  been  removed.  The  decisive  steps 
which  both  Japan  and  Turkey  have  taken  to  safeguard 
their  political  independence  have  been  starthngly 
reflected  in  the  general  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  which 
has  spread  in  a  great  wave  from  one  end  of  Asia  to  the 
other;  and  now  Asia  is  not  only  not  content,  but  begins 
thoroughly  to  understand  exactly  what  it  is  that  gives 
predominance  in  the  modern  world.  If  China,  the 
other  great  representative  of  the  people  of  Asia  who 
remain  politically  free,  is  quickly  led  or  forced  by  other 
Asiatics  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  two  who  have 
already  advanced  so  far,  an  entirely  new  era  in  the 
relations  between  Europe  and  Asia  will  commence. 
For  the  question  —  the  discussion  of  which  has  only 
been  temporarily  adjourned  —  of  the  status  of  the 
Asiatic  in  America,  in  Australia  and  in  South  Africa  — 
must  one  day  be  re-opened;  and  it  is  possible  that  its 
solution  will  be  worked  out  in  a  peculiar  yet  natural 
way.  It  is  onlv  to  be  expected  that,  having  borrowed 
the   warlike   weapons   of  the  West,   the   East   should 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        107 

finally  apply  all  those  other  fallacious  means  which  are 
best  summed  up  by  the  word  Protection;  and  by 
erecting  exactly  the  same  artificial  barriers  as  Europe 
has  done,  radically  alter  the  entire  politico-economical 
position  throughout  the  world. 

For,  continuing  the  analysis  of  the  world's  population, 
further  elements  of  weakness  in  the  general  position  of 
the  white  man  are  to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.  Taking  the  several  continents  one  by  one,  and 
dividing  up  America  as  it  should  be  divided,  the 
figures  which  are  now  tabulated  become  invested  with 
peculiar  interest. 

Africa. 

1.  Grand  total  of  brown  and  black  races  in  the  African  \ 

Continent  and  adjacent  islands  (approximate)  J  ^40>ooo,ooo 

2.  Whites  in  Africa 1,500,000 

141,500,000 
Anglo-Saxon  America. 

1.  Whites 85,000,000 

2.  Coloured  (treated  as  a  non-separate  population)  .     .     10,000,000 

95,000,000 
Latin  America,  Cuba  and  West  Indies.^ 
Whites  and  mixed  population        60,000,000 

Australasia  and  Polynesia. 

1.  Whites 6,000,000 

2.  Browns 1,000,000 

7,000,000 

^  After  several  attempts  to  attain  accuracy,  the  writer  has  had 
to  abandon  anything  like  a  proper  classification  of  the  population 
of  Latin  America.  In  the  first  place  it  is  never  quite  clear  from  the 
statistical  returns  what  the  real  proportion  is  between  pure  whites 
and  what  may  be  euphoniously  called  mixed  whites.  It  may 
be  said  roughly  that  save  for  Argentina,  and  certain  regions 
in  Brazil,  mixed  blood  is  the  rule.  Every  year  that  passes  must 
inevitably  tend  to  give  predominance  to  the  mixed  races;  and  as, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  the  entire  American  Continent  is 
effectively  isolated,  there  is  no  need  to  drag  into  this  discussion  such 
a    vexed    question,    since    it    does    not    possess    world-importance. 


108      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Whilst  the  entire  continent  of  America  may  be  omitted 
from  any  general  consideration  at  present,  for  reasons 
already  stated,  both  the  African  Continent  and  the 
Australian  Continent  —  for  entirely  different  reasons  — 
are  more  than  mere  potential  danger-centres  for  the 
white  man.  In  Africa  fast-breeding  races  are  dominated 
by  handfuls  of  white  men  who  have  managed  to  attain 
a  respectable  numerical  force  only  in  the  extreme  south 
and  in  the  extreme  north,  and  who  even  there  are 
enormously  outnumbered  by  the  coloured  inhabitants. 
In  Australia  an  isolated  geographical  situation  is  by  no 
means  entirely  compensated  for  by  the  firm  resolve  to 
remain  "All  White,"  since  Asia  lies  very  near,  and 
immense  regions  still  remain  uninhabited.  The  signifi- 
cant fact  needs  to  be  insisted  upon  that  there  is  a  regu- 
lar, well-determined  and  most  curious  coloured  belt,  run- 
ning round  the  world,  which  has  tended  to  expand  in 
the  immediate  past,  and  which  may  expand  very 
much  farther  in  the  future,  when  all  the  coloured 
nations  of  the  world  have  reached  the  modern  industrial 
stage,  and  have  adjusted  themselves  thoroughly  to  the 
effect  of  white  contact.  This  belt,  though  most  dense 
between  those  imaginary  lines  called  the  Tropics, 
extends,  especially  in  Asia  and  Africa,  many  degrees 
south  and  north  of  it  —  though  it  is  a  fact  that  it 
gradually  loses  its  strength  where  the  sun's  heat  is 
lessened.  In  the  past  four  centuries  the  pressure  of 
the  white  man  has  in  certain  regions  caused  this  belt 
to  contract  by  the    simple    process  of  extermination.' 

^  The  area  inhabited  by  the  white  race  —  that  is  the  Aryan 
race  —  in  the  ancient  classical  world  was  very  small  compared  with 
what  it  is  now,  not  all  Europe  in  those  days  being  inhabited  by 
white  men.     Of  course  it  is  true  that  climate  and  environment   had 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        109 

Thus  America  was  really  a  coloured  man's  land,  but 
the  white  man  has  virtually  cleared  three-quarters  of 
that  immense  continent,  and  now  coloured  men  — the 
Indian  and  the  negro  —  can  only  claim  the  same  belt 
as  runs  all  the  way  round  the  world.  Siberia  once 
belonged  to  non-Caucasian  races,  and  so  did  the  whole 
of  Australasia;  but  here  again,  as  in  America,  the 
pressure  of  the  white  man  has  virtually  changed  for 
good  and  all  the  preponderating  race.  In  Africa,  in 
the  extreme  north  and  in  the  extreme  south,  the  same 
process  has  been  going  on  quickly  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  process 
has  been  far  less  successful  than  elsewhere.  There  are 
some  who  still  believe  that  in  the  end  the  whites  will 
win  both  South  Africa  and  Algeria;  but  all  the 
probabilities  point  the  other  way.  As  in  the  old  slave 
States  of  America,  the  most  the  white  race  can  hope  for 
is  to  retain  a  parlous  mastery. 

For  after  having  suffered  economic  death  —  and 
therefore  virtual  racial  extinction  in  most  of  the  regions 
referred  to  —  it  will  be  one  day  counted  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  facts  of  the  twentieth  century  that  the 
man  of  colour  has  at  last  completely  recovered  himself, 
and  is  forcing  the  pendulum  to  stand  still  if  not  actually 
to  swing  back.  In  Latin  America,  save  in  the 
Argentine  and  in  portions  of  Brazil,  this  is  certainly  so; 
in  South  Africa  statistics  seem  to  prove  that  the  Bantu 
race  is  breeding  faster  than  ever:  Northern  Queensland 

not  yet  been  sufficiently  long  at  work  to  differentiate  the  Aryans 
of  Europe  from,  for  instance,  the  Aryans  of  the  north  of  In- 
dia. But  using  the  term  European  as  the  best  equivalent  for 
white  man,  it  may  be  said  that  to-day  the  European  inhabits  a 
gross  area  at  least  ten  times  as  large  as  he  did  at  the  birth  of 
Christ. 


110      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

may  yet  be  regained  by  Polynesians ;  whilst  the  Pacific 
provinces  of  Siberia  are  already  in  real  danger  of  being 
swamped  by  yellow-skinned  men,  in  spite  of  the 
artificial  restraints  which  are  being  imposed.  The 
inevitable  tendency  of  all  divisions  of  the  human  race 
to  adjust  themselves  to  their  environment,  economic  as 
well  as  natural,  will  arrest  the  dying-out  process  from 
now  on;  and  where  the  white  man  has  not  absolutely 
cleared  the  ground  of  his  coloured  rival  he  may  be  bred 
down  to  a  position  of  inferiority. 

Thus  on  every  side  of  the  world  to  which  one  may 
turn  —  save  in  America,  where  the  problem  tends  to 
adjust  itself  owing  to  geographical  isolation  and  to 
regional  influences  to  which  special  reference  will  later 
be  made  —  the  conflict  of  colour  possesses  ever  new 
potentialities.  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  it  may  be 
laid  down  as  an  axiom  that  no  sooner  will  one  part  of 
the  problem  be  temporarily  solved,  than  another  part 
will  claim  attention  —  and  so  must  it  continue  until  vast 
changes  have  been  brought  about  in  standards  of 
thought,  in  standards  of  living,  and  in  standards  of 
morals.  Changes  in  the  standards  of  these  things  can 
alone  diminish  the  present  dangers;  yet  there  is  one 
thing  which  can  never  be  altered,  and  that  is  colour. 

For  here  is  the  real  root  of  the  racial  difficulty 
throughout  the  world.  There  exists  a  widespread 
racial  antipathy  founded  on  colour  —  an  animal-like 
instinct,  if  you  will,  but  an  instinct  which  must  remain 
in  existence  until  the  world  becomes  Utopia.  It  is 
this  instinct  which  seems  to  forbid  really  frank  inter- 
course and  equal  treatment.  How  this  is  to  be 
minimised  in  each  separate  region  should  be  one  of  the 
first  studies  of  statesmen,  for  the  day  is  surely  come 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF   COLOUR        111 

when  common-sense  demands  that  the  Hne  of  least 
resistance  should  be  sought  for  and  gradually 
approached. 

If,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  one  last  table  be  given 
here,  it  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  how,  when  every  living 
being  in  the  world  is  counted,  the  odds  against  the 
white  man  may  be  said  to  remain  roughly  two  to  one. 

TOTAL   POPULATION   OF   THE   WORLD   ACCORDING   TO 
COLOUR. 

Wkiies. 

1.  Europe 453,500,000 

2.  North  America 85,000,000 

3.  Australasia        6,000,000 

4.  South  America  (Argentine,  Brazil,  &c.)     .     .     .  20,000,000 

5.  Africa 1,500,000 

566,000,000 

Mixed  Whites. 

(Including  Indians)  Mexico,  Cuba,  and  West  Indies,  \ 

Central  and  South  America /     4o,ooo,ooo 

Absolute  Yellow,  Brown  and  Black. 

1.  Asia 947,000,000 

2.  Africa 140,000,000 

3.  Pacific 2,000,000 

4.  United  States 10,000,000 

1,099,000,000 1 
Grand  total  of  the  world's  population   .     .     .     1,705,000,000 


^  These  figures,  while  perhaps  not  absolutely  accurate,  must  be 
very  nearly  so,  as  the  writer  has  made  it  his  business  to  investi- 
gate closely  all  doubtful  figures.  Africa  is  a  case  in  point  —  Poly- 
nesia a  smaller  instance.  No  amount  of  care,  however,  can 
produce  really  reliable  statistics  where  the  data  are  incomplete; 
and  in  regard  to  Equatorial  Africa  the  data  are  notoriously  mostly 
guess-work.  What,  for  instance,  is  the  real  population  of  the 
Congo  Free  State  —  20  millions  (the  official  estimate),  15;^-  mil- 
lions (Sir  H.  H.  Johnston's  estimate),  or  9  millions  (a  mis- 
sionary estimate)  ?  It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  suppose  that 
the  highest  estimate  is  the  least  reliable,  for  Korea  has  recently  fur- 
nished   an    interesting   instance    of    the    unreliability    of  all    guess- 


112      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

Of  absolute  whites  there  are  thus  only  566,000,000, 
compared  with  1,099,000,000  absolute  coloured; 
whilst  between  the  two  may  be  placed  the  40,000,000, 
of  Central  and  South  America,  and  those  islands  which 
are  inhabitated  mainly  by  mixed  whites  of  Spanish- 
Indian  descent  —  forty  millions  of  people  who  will  grad- 
ually fuse  their  differences  and  produce  a  definite  type 
of  American  in  which  Indian  blood  will  predominate. 

Now,  to  maintain  the  present  balance  of  power  for 
very  many  years  to  come  might  not  be  such  difficult 
work,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  Europe  —  using  the 
word  here  not  so  much  in  its  strict  sense  as  in  a  racial 
sense  —  is  a  house  divided  against  itself.  It  is  perhaps 
this,  rather  than  the  actual  problem  of  colour  itself, 
which  is  the  disconcerting  factor  in  the  present-day  situ- 
ation. For  it  is  evident  that  if  an  absolute  agreement 
among  the  white  Powers,  to  preserve  the  status  quo,  could 
be  really  arrived  at,  no  great  breach  of  the  peace  could 
occur.  But  such  an  agreement  among  the  white 
Powers  is  not  only  far-off  but  virtually  impossible;  and 
it  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  one  single  reason  which 
is  held  by  Continental  writers  to  have  destroyed  for 
ever  all  possibility  of  that  agreement  is  the  British  al- 
liance with  Japan.     It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  such 

work  estimates,  official  or  unofficial.  The  census  which  has  there 
been  almost  completed  —  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  country  — 
places  the  population  at  roughly  15  millions.  Previous  to  this 
census  the  Japanese  estimates  were  generally  8  or  9  millions  and 
native  estimates  20  millions.  The  native  estimate  has  thus  been 
shown  nearer  the  truth  than  anyone  would  have  supposed  pos- 
sible. Similarly,  the  Congo  Free  State,  with  its  million  square 
miles  of  territory,  may  have  30  millions  of  people  for  all  we  know. 
In  such  circumstances  the  only  course  open  for  the  statistician  is 
to  strike  an  average. 


I  THE   DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        113 

writers,  while  they  infer  that  this  act  has  placed  Eng- 
land outside  the  pale,  do  not  grasp  the  fact  that  the 
whole  history  of  British  expansion  has  inevitably  sepa- 
rated England  for  ever  from  pursuing  a  policy  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  Europe  abroad. 

For  when  England,  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century,  took  the  sensational  step  of  allying  herself  with 
Japan,  she  was  simply  yielding  to  her  rfatural  political 
instinct,  which  told  her  clearly  that  it  was  necessary  to 
proclaim,  not  only  that  she  had  no  further  ambitions  in 
Asia  or  Africa,  but  that  she  held  that  with  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  era  of  forcible  expansion  had 
come  to  an  end.  Russia  was  then  showing,  in  a  very 
positive  form,  that  her  views  were  different.  To  her 
the  twentieth  century  had  opened  as  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury had  for  England  —  that  is,  as  a  period  of  expansion 
and  conquest.  The  bulk  of  Europe  sympathised  with 
Russia  and  applauded  her.  Manchuria,  a  fertile  region 
as  large  as  France  and  Germany,  had  been  invaded  and 
was  in  open  danger  of  being  annexed;  beyond  Man- 
churia lay  a  vast  and  absolutely  defenceless  empire, 
China.  Undoubtedly  it  was  primarily  to  arrest  this 
movement  that  England  took  the  step  of  allying  herself 
with  Japan.  But  it  was  not,  as  has  so  often  been  erro- 
neously stated,  a  fundamental  departure  in  her  foreign 
policy  as  a  whole,  for  England  has  constantly  formed 
temporary  alliances  for  precisely  the  same  objects  as  the 
Japanese  alliance;  it  was  a  fundamental  departure  in 
her  Asiatic  policy  —  that  is,  in  her  policy  in  deahng  with 
coloured  races.  For  the  first  time  in  her  history  she 
placed  herself  by  formal  treaty  on  an  absolute  equality 
with  an  Asiatic  race.  And  by  this  act  the  power  was 
given  to  Japan  at  once  to  attack  Russia  —  the  old  cham- 


114      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

pion  of  Europe  against  Asia,  and  to  drive  her  back  to 
her  own  frontiers. 

Now,  it  is  amply  clear  to  those  who  have  followed 
the  problem  in  all  its  phases,  that,  taking  this  alliance  as 
a  starting-point,  matters  would  not  have  become  as  in- 
volved as  they  are  to-day,  or  the  grand  issues  so  dan- 
gerous, had  not  the  well-known  and  narrow  Indian 
traditions  regarding  the  nature  of  the  Russian  menace  in 
Asia  quickly  brought  about  the  conclusion  of  a  second 
alliance.  It  is  necessary  to  emphasise  in  the  strongest 
manner  possible  the  remarkable  general  effect  of  this 
second  alliance :  for  it  is  this  harmful  and  ill-considered 
instrument  which  is  largely  responsible  for  the  complex 
nature  which  the  conflict  of  colour  has  now  assumed 
throughout  the  world.     By  making  this  second  alliance  ^ 

^  It  is  necessary,  owing  to  the  great  racial  influence  it  may 
have,  to  point  out  the  fundamental  difference  between  the  two 
alliance  treaties  made  by  England  with  Japan.  In  the  first 
treaty  —  which  consisted  of  six  articles,  at  the  head  of  which  stands 
a  preamble  stating  that  the  chief  objects  are  (a)  the  main- 
tenance of  the  general  peace  and  (b)  the  maintenance  of  the 
independence  and  the  territorial  integrity  of  the  Empire  of  China 
and  the  Empire  of  Korea  —  the  main  argument  is  directed  to 
assuring  each  signatory  that  war  directed  against  either  signatory 
by  more  than  one  Power  will  entail  the  armed  assistance  of  the 
second  signatory.  In  the  second  treaty,  consisting  of  eight 
articles,  the  momentous  change  made  is  clear  from  the  very  pre- 
amble. No  longer  is  the  treaty  concerned  with  territorial  in- 
tegrity (Korea  being  dropped  entirely  from  the  preamble),  but 
merely  with  the  frank  preservation  of  the  interests  of  the  two  sig- 
natories not  only  in  Eastern  Asia  but  in  India  as  well.  And  in  the 
body  of  the  treaty  the  whole  force  of  the  eight  articles  is  di- 
rected towards  making  a  series  of  mutual  assurances  of  the  most 
far-reaching  nature  regarding  the  manner  in  which  those  interests 
are  to  be  preserved.  The  main  point  simply  is  that  any  attack 
by  one  Power  on  either  of  the  two  signatories  will  promptly  secure 
the  armed  assistance  of  the  second  signatory,  thus  making  to  all  in- 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        115 

far  more  binding  than  the  first  —  by  completely  identify- 
ing her  interests  with  the  interests  of  Japan,  before  she 
understood  what  those  interests  might  be  —  England 
deliberately  sacrificed  her  liberty  of  action  not  only  in 
Eastern  Asia,  but  in  every  portion  of  the  world  of 
colour  where  men  are  able  to  think  and  act. 

It  was  but  natural  that  the  idea  should  quickly  spread 
that  similar  consideration  and  similar  equality  of  treat- 
ment would  at  once  be  given,  if  sufficient  determination 
and  sufficient  boldness  were  exhibited.  Thus  over- 
concentration  on  one  phase  of  a  really  world-wide  prob- 
lem quickly  produced  precisely  the  results  which  should 
have  been  reasonably  expected,  had  there  been  common 
prescience.  It  is  useless  to  argue,  as  has  been  frequently 
argued,  that  in  practical  politics  only  the  political  to- 
morrow can  be  considered,  and  not  any  more  remote 
period.  Such  an  attitude  may  have  been  defensible  a 
century  ago,  when  real  knowledge  was  very  scantily 
diffused  and  when  even  statesmen  of  renown  trifled  with 
serious  questions.  To-day,  when  whole  nations  stand 
instructed,  when  destinies  are  definitely  fixed  within 
certain  limits,  it  is  unreasonable  in  the  highest  degree  to 

tents  and  purposes  England  and  Japan  one  Power  throughout  all 
Asia. 

Racially  —  the  point  which  here  merits  special  consideration  — 
the  treaty  is  a  very  bad  one,  inasmuch  as  it  puts  England  in  a 
most  unfavourable  light  not  only  in  Europe,  America  and  Austra- 
lia, but  in  Asia  as  well.  For  she  not  only  endorses  in  this  in- 
strument the  robbery  of  Korea,  but  she  confesses  to  300  million  Asiatic 
subjects  that  she  cannot  protect  them  from  European  aggression 
save  with  the  help  of  an  Asiatic  ally. 

That  Lord  Lansdowne  should  have  made  such  a  hasty  and  ill- 
considered  treaty  is  the  last  proof  necessary  that  he  was  as  ill-fitted 
to  conduct  the  crucial  business  of  England's  foreign  relations  as  he 
was  her  warlike  operations. 


116      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

cull  from  antiquated  text-books  maxims  for  the  guidance 
of  movements  which  cannot  be  guided,  and  even  to  em- 
balm those  maxims  in  treaty  preambles. 

For  whilst  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  fundamental 
principle  that  every  civilised  nation  should  be  accorded 
the  same  equitable  treatment,  entirely  irrespective  of  the 
questions  of  colour  or  creed,  the  sacrifice  of  certain 
fundamental  political  safeguards  cannot  be  made  with- 
out the  very  greatest  danger.^  It  is  precisely  this  that 
England  has  commenced  to  do,  basing  her  action  on 
that  dangerous  political  excuse  —  expediency.  The  day 
is  surely  not  far  distant  when  a  wiser  generation  will 
reprobate  in  unequivocal  terms  the  rash  and  ill-con- 
sidered haste  with  which  much  that  is  vital  has  already 
been  surrendered;  for  no  matter  how  great  a  change  in 
treatment  may  later  come,  much  has  already  been  lost 
which  can  never  be  regained. 

For  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  ill-effects  of  bad 
policy  do  not  cease  within  a  limited  and  easily  calculated 
sphere:  they  spread  far  and  wide  like  the  strange  waves 
flung  up  by  some  seismic  disturbance  —  waves  which  run 
from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other.  No  longer 
may  Europe  say  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  like  those  de- 

^  There  is  to  be  found  a  very  startling  instance  of  race-preju- 
dice at  the  beginning  of  Professor  Pearson's  book  National  Life  and 
Character :  — 

"Two  centuries  hence  it  may  be  a  matter  of  serious  concern  to 
the  world  if  Russia  has  been  displayed  by  China  on  the  Amur,  if 
France  has  not  been  able  to  colonise  North  Africa,  or  if  England 
is  not  holding  India.  For  civilised  men  there  can  only  be  one  Father- 
land, and  whatever  extends  the  influence  of  those  races  that 
have  taken  their  faith  from  Palestine,  their  laws  of  beauty  from 
Greece,  and  their  civil  law  from  Rome,  ought  to  be  a  matter 
of  rejoicing  to  Russian,  German,  Anglo-Saxon  and  Frenchmen 
alike." 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR        117 

voted  Thibetans  who  meet  all  travellers  in  the  wastes  of 
Central  Asia  on  their  way  to  sacred  and  forbidden 
Lhassa,  "Thus  far  and  no  farther."  The  secrets  of 
supremacy  have  been  revealed;  and  other  countries,  led 
by  what  England  has  done,  are  beginning  to  accept  in 
their  extra-European  affairs  what  may  be  called  the 
same  clumsy  doctrine  of  pis-aller.  Neither  Germany 
nor  Russia  ^  have  much  to  lose  in  conflicts  which  would 
ruin  England;  and  so,  as  the  years  go  by,  instead  of  the 
altruism  of  common-sense  being  the  guiding  principle, 
a  base  and  short-sighted  self-interest  may  become  in- 
creasingly evident  in  the  extra-European  world. 

For  in  addition  to  the  question  of  colour,  it  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  there  is  also  the  vital  question 
of  religion  to  be  considered  —  perhaps  not  immediately 
but  at  some  not  very  distant  time.  The  white  Power 
which,  for  instance,  can  really  ally  itself  with  Islam,  as 
Napoleon  dreamed  of  doing,  may  possibly  dispose  in 
Asia  and  Africa  of  an  irresistible  force.     England  can 

^  The  peculiar  conditions  in  Russia  make  it  necessary  to  point 
out  that  instead  of  the  great  Muscovite  Power  sharing  with 
England  the  responsibiHties  of  Asia,  she  remains  in  many  senses 
one  of  the  real  difficulties  of  Asia,  Any  Government  which 
adheres  to  what  may  be  called  a  Byzantine  form  cannot  be  entirely 
trusted;  and  Russia,  in  spite  of  the  constitution  of  1905  and  the 
Duma,  has  still  that  peculiar  Graeco-Oriental  form  which  all 
liberal-minded  men  must  hate.  It  is  interesting  to  reflect  —  from 
the  practical  example  which  Russia  aff'ords  —  how  impossible  Euro- 
pean progress  would  have  been  had  not  those  great  waves  of 
•  Barbarianism  completely  submerged  Rome,  and  permitted  the 
white  man  to  escape  partially  from  a  bad  tutelage.  It  is  because 
a  variety  of  circumstances  made  Russia  look  to  the  Byzantine  Em- 
pire for  her  religion,  her  art,  and  her  political  ideals,  that  the  Rus- 
sian people  have  been  so  long  enslaved,  and  that  the  real  lib- 
erty which  lies  in  the  heart  of  the  people,  can  find  no  adequate 
expression. 


118      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

never  become  that  ally;  every  feeling  is  against  it;  and 
if  it  is  to  be  some  other  Power,  there  is  no  soldiery  in 
Asia  which  could  face  it  with  any  chance  of  success. 
That  is  perhaps  why  instinctively  the  great  movement 
towards  Christianising  the  coloured  world  is  growing 
stronger  and  stronger  in  Anglo-Saxon  countries,  as  a 
sort  of  forlorn  hope  launched  to  capture  an  almost  im- 
pregnable position. 

Yet  even  that  hope  is  illusory,  save  in  countries 
where  no  real  civilisation  and  no  real  religion  exist. 
Christianity,  no  matter  what  ardent  evangelists  may  say 
to  the  contrary,  can  only  really  live  and  thrive  in 
temperate  climes;  as  it  stands  to-day  it  is  the  product 
of  temperate  climes,  and  only  of  temperate  climes. 
Among  either  the  warlike  or  the  metaphysical-minded 
peoples  of  Asia  and  Africa,  very  different  creeds  will 
always  hold  sway.  Let  that  be  understood.  In  Europe 
Christianity  has  been  for  many  centuries  a  strengthening 
force  politically — a  very  great  strengthening  force.  But 
in  Asia,  from  the  moment  when  it  was  first  understood, 
Christianity  —  that  is,  the  system  of  Christianity  as 
taught  by  all  the  Churches  —  has  everywhere  been  looked 
upon  by  rulers  and  scholars  alike  as  a  weakening  force 
—  a  disintegrating  force,  a  purely  European  thing, 
aiming  at  destroying  the  most  essential  parts  of  social 
fabrics  which  have  been  so  slowly  and  painfully  built 
up  throughout  the  ages  by  a  process  exactly  analogous 
to  that  process  of  life  known  as  the  process  of  natural 
selection.  It  is  a  strange  fact,  which  has  often  attracted 
the  attention  of  unbiased  observers,  that  Asiatic 
converts  to  Christianity  are  not  only  partly  denational- 
ised but  (save  in  rare  cases)  are  not  morally  benefited, 
the  very  effort  of  breaking  away  from  the  support  of 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR       119 

their  natural  environment  being  an  unnatural  one  and 
therefore  visited  with  bad  effects. 

Still,  though  these  facts  are  to-day  beyond  doubt, 
there  are  not  lacking  such  leading  lights  of  the  v^estern 
world  as  Bishops  to  proclaim  the  strangely  mediaeval 
belief  that,  as  it  will  one  day  be  impossible  to  bar  out 
the  hordes  of  Asia  and  Africa,  the  one  and  only  safe 
guard  for  Europe  and  the  white  man  still  lies  to-day  as 
in  the  distant  past  in  Christianity — as  if  a  system  of 
thought  and  a  system  of  belief  were  enough  to  act  as  a 
complete  economic  and  political  protection.  For  religion 
has  little  to  do  with  the  standard  of  living;  religion 
has  still  less  to  do  with  the  balance  of  power;  and  it  is 
these  things  alone  which  have  to-day  paramount  racial 
importance.  Education,  material  improvements,  and 
the  birth-rate  are  the  modern  touch-stones  of  success; 
and  it  is  only  in  African  forests  that  those  who  retain  the 
ingenuousness  of  a  departed  age  can  hope  to  find  any 
earthly  reward. 

Religion  to-day  performs  no  miracles.  Asia  and 
Africa  must  be  met  on  their  own  terms;  ^  and  though 

^  "The  day  will  come,  and  perhaps  is  not  far  distant,  when 
the  European  observer  will  look  round  to  see  the  globe  girdled  with 
a  continuous  zone  of  the  black  and  yellow  races,  no  longer 
too  weak  for  aggression  or  under  tutelage,  but  independent,  or  prac- 
tically so,  in  government,  monopolising  the  trade  of  their  own 
regions,  and  circumscribing  the  industry  of  the  European;  when 
Chinamen  and  the  nations  of  Hindostan,  the  States  of  Central  and 
South  America,  by  that  time  predominantly  Indian,  and  it  may 
be  African  nations  of  the  Congo  and  the  Zambesi,  under  a 
dominant  caste  of  foreign  rulers,  are  represented  by  fleets  in  the  Eu- 
ropean seas,  invited  to  international  conferences,  and  welcomed 
as  allies  in  the  quarrels  of  the  civilised  world.  The  citizens  of  these 
countries  will  then  be  taken  up  into  the  social  relations  of  the 
white   races,  will  throng  the   English  turf,  or  the  salons  of  Paris, 


120      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

in  the  past  the  Cross  may  have  triumphed  over  the 
Crescent,  though  elsewhere  that  European  Palladium 
has  become  synonymous  with  the  flag,  to-day  the 
mastery  of  the  world  belongs  to  those  who  best  follow 
the  laws  of  common-sense.  Political  justice,  in  place 
of  abstract  moral  maxims;  a  real  comprehension  of  the 
historical  aspect  of  each  problem,  instead  of  traditional 
prejudice;  a  ceaseless  determination  to  find  permanent 
and  not  temporary  solutions  —  these  are  the  aims  re- 
quired of  intelligent  men. 

In  the  chapters  which  follow  there  are  considered,  in 
the  three  divisions  ^  into  which  they  properly  fall,  three 
aspects  of  the  conflict  of  colour  throughout  the  world. 
The  grand  fact  which  stands  out  is  that  at  bottom  the 
complaint  against  the  white  man  is  everywhere  the  same, 
though  it  may  be  expressed  in  very  diff^erent  terms,  and 

and  will  be  admitted  to  intermarriage.  It  is  idle  to  say  that 
if  all  this  should  come  to  pass  our  pride  of  place  will  not  be 
humiliated.  We  were  struggling  among  ourselves  for  supremacy 
in  a  world  which  we  thought  of  as  destined  to  belong  to  the 
Aryan  races  and  to  the  Christian  faith;  to  the  letters  and  arts  and 
charm  of  social  manners  which  we  have  inherited  from  the  best  times 
of  the  past.  We  shall  wake  to  find  ourselves  elbowed  and 
hustled,  and  perhaps  even  thrust  aside  by  peoples  whom  we 
looked  down  upon  as  servile,  and  thought  of  as  bound  always  to 
minister  to  our  needs.  The  solitary  consolation  will  be,  that  the 
changes  have  been  inevitable.  It  has  been  our  work  to  organise 
and  create,  to  carry  peace  and  law  and  order  over  the  world,  that 
others  may  enter  in  and  enjoy.  Yet  in  some  of  us  the  feeling  of 
caste  is  so  strong  that  we  are  not  sorry  to  think  we  shall  have  passed 
away  before  that  day  arrives."  —  Pearson:  National  Life  and  Char- 
acter, Chap.  I. 

^  The  older  divisions,  it  is  well  to  remark,  are  completely  out 
of  date;  and  it  should  be  understood  that,  just  as  Eastern  Asia 
is  one  whole,  so  do  the  Near  East  and  the  Middle  East  form  part 
and  parcel  of  the  same  problem,  just  as  Africa  is  one  whole.  The 
best  division  is  simply  that  of  colour  —  yellow,  brown  and  black. 


I  THE  DIVISIONS  OF  COLOUR       121 

sometimes,  for  reasons  of  expediency  or  for  other 
reasons,  still  concealed.  In  the  past  Europe  abroad  — 
that  is  Europe  in  Asia,  Europe  in  Africa,  Europe  in 
every  region  inhabited  by  coloured  races  which  it  was 
impossible  to  exterminate  because  they  were  too 
numerous  —  has  been  a  most  perfect  illustration  of 
Fortunatus;  that  man,  who  being  on  the  brink  of 
starvation  and  offered  wisdom,  strength,  wealth,  beauty, 
or  life,  chose  the  inexhaustible  purse ! 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   YELLOW   WORLD    OF    EASTERN    ASIA 

As  it  is  in  the  vast  region  of  Eastern  Asia,  rather 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  that  soon  must  be 
seen  the  making  of  further  history  eminently  dis- 
concerting for  the  white  man,  it  is  necessary  to  approach 
the  subject  carefully  and  to  deal  with  it  exhaustively. 
It  is  the  fault  of  the  subject,  rather  than  of  anything 
else,  that  a  certain  amount  of  tiresome  repetition  is 
necessary;  for  unless  certain  facts  are  insisted  upon 
again  and  again  they  are  in  danger  of  being  forgotten. 
And  if  such  leading  facts  are  forgotten,  the  whole  of 
this  study  becomes  valueless. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  strange  conflict  of 
colour  proceeding  to-day  everywhere  throughout  the 
world,  owing  to  the  existence  of  certain  grave  first 
causes,  was  discussed  in  general  terms,  and  certain  basic 
facts  were  laid  before  the  reader.  The  curious  statistics 
of  the  world's  population  and  its  distribution  showed  us 
how  the  white  races,  in  spite  of  their  inferiority  of 
numbers,  and  in  spite  also  of  the  fact  that  all  were  not 
equally  interested  in  the  matter,  not  only  still  remained 
dominant  in  practically  every  region  of  the  world,  but 
that,  owing  to  a  variety  of  reasons,  the  growing  move- 

122 


CH.  II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  123 

ment  against  them  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  stripping 
from  them  to  an  appreciable  extent  the  proud  title  of 
arbiters  of  the  world's  destinies. 

It  was  also  established  —  it  is  to  be  hoped  clearly,  for 
these  premises  have  much  value  —  that  the  present-day 
conflict  arose  mainly  owing  to  two  vital  facts  being  at 
last  very  generally  understood  throughout  the  non- 
European  world  :  —  first,  that  in  the  past  the  white  man 
had  acquired  a  firm  mastery  over  a  great  portion  of  the 
coloured  races  of  the  world  only  because  they  were 
utterly  inferior  to  him  in  the  arts  of  war,  and  that  this 
mastery  was  now  held  by  the  doubly  doubtful  right  of 
conquest  and  prescription;  and  second,  that,  consider- 
ing himself  entitled  to  do  so,  the  white  man  was  begin- 
ning to  deny  in  absolute  terms  the  right  of  such  alien 
races  to  enter  his  own  lands  and  compete  with  his  own 
people  wherever  he  might  consider  such  infiltration  and 
competition  dangerous.  Not  only,  then,  has  it  been 
noted  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  world's  coloured 
inhabitants  are  still  held  in  bondage  by  the  white  man; 
but  that  certain  other  portions  are  virtually  confined 
within  certain  limits  —  or  at  least  prevented  from 
migrating  freely  to  lands  formerly  seized  by  the  white 
man.  So  far,  this  prohibition  has  applied  almost  entirely 
to  the  various  peoples  of  Eastern  Asia;  and,  because  of 
geographical  considerations,  that  prohibition  has  at  once 
become  invested  with  a  far-reaching  and  ominous 
political   importance. 

For  if  we  include  Siberia  —  as  it  should  be  now 
included  —  in  the  white  man's  portion  of  the  world; 
and  if  we  measure  up  every  mile  of  this  vast  territory, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  white  man,  although  he  is  to- 
day only  half  as   numerous   as  the  coloured   man,  is 


124       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

settled  on  a  gross  area  of  land  more  than  twice  as 
extensive  as  that  owned  by  his  coloured  brother.  The 
white  man  therefore  possesses  sufficient  land  to  support 
a  population  many  times  as  numerous  as  it  is  to-day, 
and  many  centuries  may  elapse  before  the  question  of 
overcrowding  arises  for  him  in  any  acute  form.  That  is 
a  very  important  consideration. 

Far  less  fortunate  is  the  coloured  man,  for  he  is  con- 
fined within  relatively  narrow  limits.^  As  industrialism 
grows  in  his  lands  with  giant  strides,  very  few  decades 
may  make  his  position  desperate;  and  the  poverty  and 
overcrowding  from  which  he  must  increasingly  suffer 
will  in  the  end  openly  turn  him  against  those  who 
restrict  him  to  certain  regions.  It  is  no  longer  possible 
to  delude  oneself  on  this  score.  Accurate  and  copious 
statistics  exist  to-day  in  the  case  of  two  great  Asiatic 
countries — India  and  Japan — from  which  to  draw  end- 
less conclusions.  Those  statistics  disclose  the  fact  that, 
in  spite  of  the  existence  of  many  of  the  old  Asiatic  re- 
straining influences  on  the  growth  of  population,  and  in 
spite  of  the  non-existence  of  widely-diffused  industries 
such  as  obtain  in  all  densely-populated  European 
countries,  vast  regions  already  carry  a  population  of 
more  than  500  souls  to  the  square  mile;  and,  in  more 
restricted  areas,  sometimes  double  that  number. 

It  is  because  of  this  condition  of  affairs  that  the  two 
basic  facts,  on  which  so  much  insistence  has  been  laid, 
form  the  very  head  and  front  of  the  racial  difficulties 

^  This  is  not  so  true  of  Africa  as  it  is  of  Asia,  since  Africa  is 
undoubtedly  still  underpopulated.  Still  the  negro  races  in  Africa 
do  not  possess  more  than  half  the  total  surface,  and  when  they  greatly 
grow  in  numbers  —  as  they  must  grow  —  they  will  feel  their 
confinement  just  as  acutely  as  the  Asiatic  already  does  in  certain 
countries. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  125 

which  now  face  the  white  world;  and  unless  there  is 
a  total  reversal  of  certain  well-accepted  principles,  it 
is  impossible  to  see  how  any  really  permanent  solution 
can  be  arrived  at.  The  best  that  can  be  hoped  for  is  a 
continuous  state  of  armed  neutrality,  broken  by  periodic 
warfare;  and  it  would  be  well,  at  a  time  when  dis- 
armament talk  has  not  yet  died  away  in  Europe,  if 
these  facts  were  properly  understood. 

For,  leaving  aside  the  question  of  the  excessive 
amount  of  territory  which  the  white  man  not  only 
possesses  as  his  exclusive  preserve,  because  of  the  energy 
which  he  displayed  during  the  past  four  centuries,  but 
is  determined  perpetually  to  reserve  for  himself, 
and  confining  ourselves  to  the  other  more  tangible 
issues,  it  may  be  said  in  general  terms  that  the  white 
man  will  never  willingly  retreat  from  the  stand  he  has 
taken  as  a  world-conqueror;  and  as  he  cannot  be  forced 
just  yet  to  retreat  all  along  the  line  in  Asia  and  Africa, 
seeing  that  he  still  possesses  the  world's  great  stocks  of 
gold  and  the  mastery  of  the  ocean,  war  must  constantly 
occur  as  the  coloured  races  become  stronger  and  stronger 
in  modern  offensive  strength,  and  attempt  to  win  back 
piecemeal  what  they  have  lost  in  the  past.^  That  they 
must  become  at  least  masters  in  their  own  houses  can- 
not any  longer  be  doubted.  It  may  be  that  such  long 
intervals  will  elapse  between  successive  attempts;  such 
artifices  used  to  disguise  the  real  issues;  such  skill 
employed   to   sow   dissension   before   delivering  actual 

*  Of  course  this  argument  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  the 
only  method  of  solving  difficulties  is  by  warfare.  If,  as  the  writer 
hopes  to  show  clearly  farther  on,  a  policy  of  conciliation  and 
common-sense  is  finally  adopted  by  the  leading  colonial  Power,  Eng- 
land, the  future  may  not  be  so  troubled. 


126      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

attacks,  that  it  will  be  difficult  to  trace  each  movement 
back  to  its  real  causes.  But  if  the  premises  which  have 
been  here  advanced  are  correct  (and  there  can  be  no 
reason  to  hold  them  incorrect),  this  solution  will  be 
natural,  logical  and  in  the  highest  sense  lawful;  and 
those  who  remain  deliberately  blind  to  such  a  probability 
will  incur  the  punishment  which  inevitably  falls  to  the 
lot  of  wilful  persons.  The  policy  of  piecemeal  recovery 
of  lost  rights  is  the  common  policy  of  all  coloured 
peoples;   and  this  is  the  policy  to  be  apprehended. 

It  is  in  view  of  these  far-reaching  considerations  that 
the  position  in  the  vital  portion  of  non-subjected  Asia  — 
that  is,  in  China  and  Japan  —  has  just  now  such  super- 
lative interest;  for  it  is  on  these  countries  that  will 
undoubtedly  be  thrown  the  brunt  of  the  work  of 
changing  once  and  for  all  the  relations  between  East  and 
West  —  those  curiously  involved  and  delicate  relations 
which  have  imperceptibly  grown  up  in  the  four  hundred 
years  during  which  the  white  man  has  so  miraculously 
spread  his  influence  over  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 
And  since  it  is  a  fact  that  in  the  region  of  the  world 
where  these  two  races — the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese — 
are  dominant,  nearly  one-third  of  the  human  race  is 
actually  cradled — that  is,  some  600  million  souls  live  and 
have  their  being  —  it  seems  tolerably  certain,  as  has  so 
often  been  predicted,  that  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  its 
shores  are  really  destined  to  play  the  part  of  the  world's 
great  battle-ground  during  coming  times,  at  least  until 
the  pendulum  swings  back  and  a  new  action  is  born  of 
the  latest  reaction.  Everything  is  in  favour  of  this  sup- 
position.    Let  us  glance  at  the  vital  facts. 

The  first  thing  to  note  is  that  the  area  inhabited  by 
the  yellow  races  is   not   only  immense,   but  that  the 


n  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  127 

boundaries  of  all  the  yellow  man's  kingdoms  are  con- 
terminous, whilst  his  ideals  and  his  languages  are  homo- 
logous.^ This  great  region  stretches  from  the  Amur 
river  in  latitude  50°  north  almost  to  the  equator  line; 
it  extends  from  longitude  90°  east  to  longitude  160°  ; 
and  it  comprises  a  land-area  of  roughly  3,000,000  square 
miles.  In  this  region  there  exists  practically  every 
variety  of  cHmate  —  from  almost  arctic  cold  to  burning 
tropical  heat;  but  though  there  are  these  extremes  of 
climate,  a  large  portion  comprises  what  may  be  called 
the  Temperate  Zone  of  Asia,  where  the  burden  of  climate 
does  not  greatly  abase  man  or  make  him  inherently  in- 
ferior to  other  men  in  anything  save  mere  physical 
strength.  Considerably  more  than  two  million  square 
miles  of  this  territory,  according  to  the  best  calculations, 
are  already  given  over  to  the  intensive  activities  of  these 
yellow  races;  and  in  the  south,  in  the  west,  and  even 
in  the  north,  their  dominion  is  constantly  extending  at 
the  cost  of  certain  minor  coloured  races,  and  must  very 
soon  expand  at  a  much  faster  rate.  There  are,  for 
instance,  millions  of  Chinese  already  in  the  islands  of  the 
Southern  Seas;  in  fifty  years  there  should  be  tens  of 
millions.  And  just  as  they  have  every  variety  of  climate 
and  soil,  so  do  these  races  possess  within  the  limits  of 
their  territories  all  the  mineral  wealth  that  is  necessary 
to  secure  their  industrial  welfare. 

Yet  though  they  have  great  vitality,  great  indus- 
triousness,  and  great  determination  —  in  brief,  a  great 

^  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  there  is  a  powerful  Japanese 
Linguistic  Society  already  in  existence  to  promote  closer  inter- 
course between  the  various  groups  of  the  yellow  race  —  Japanese, 
Koreans,  Chinese,  Mongols,  Tibetans,  Annamese,  Siamese.  Its 
work  is  attracting  increasing  attention. 


128      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

hold  on  life  —  all  these  so-called  yellow  races  (the 
Chinese,  the  Japanese,  the  Koreans,  the  Indo-Chinese, 
the  Siamese  and  the  Mongols),  are  by  nature  peaceful 
and  not  warlike  in  any  degree  —  in  spite  of  what  has 
lately  been  said  of  the  Japanese,  whose  true 
characteristics  are  very  different  from  what  they  are 
still  commonly  supposed  to  be.  They  have  one  and 
all  an  excellent  moral  and  social  system  —  founded  in 
the  main  on  the  Confucian  precepts  —  a  system  making 
for  peace  and  contentment.^  No  matter  how  much  the 
so-called  sterilisation  of  these  races  during  the  past  few 
centuries  may  be  decried,  they  have  undoubtedly 
managed,  alone    and    unaided,    to    stand    the   test   of 

^  Dr.  Eliot,  the  Principal  of  Harvard  University,  has  recently 
expressed  a  lofty  thought  so  clearly  that  the  writer  ventures  to  quote 
him,  for  the  benefit  of  missionaries :  — 

"Religion  is  not  fixed  but  fluent  —  changing  from  century  to 
century.  A  new  religion  is  coming,  not  based  on  authority  either 
spiritual  or  temporal;  for  the  present  generation,  while  willing  to 
be  led,  will  not  be  driven.  In  the  new  religion  there  will  be  no  per- 
sonification of  natural  objects  or  deification  of  remarkable  human 
beings.  A  new  thought  of  God  will  be  characteristic  of  the 
new  religion,  which  will  be  thoroughly  monotheistic.  God  to 
His  creature  will  be  so  immanent  that  no  intermediary  will  be 
needed.  God  will  be  to  every  man  the  multiplication  of  infi- 
nities. With  a  human  and  worthy  idea  of  God  as  the  central 
thought  of  the  new  religion,  creed,  dogma,  and  mystery  will  dis- 
appear. Its  priests  will  try  to  improve  the  social  and  industrial  con- 
ditions. The  new  religion  will  not  attempt  to  reconcile  people 
to  present  ills  by  promising  future  compensations.  I  believe  the 
advent  of  a  just  freedom  for  mankind  has  been  delayed  for  cen- 
turies by  such  promises.  Prevention  will  be  the  watchword  of 
the  new  religion,  and  the  skilful  surgeon  will  be  one  of  its 
ministers.  It  cannot  supply  consolation,  as  did  the  old  religions, 
but  it  will  reduce  the  need  for  consolation.  It  may  be  difficult  to 
unite  the  world's  various  religions  under  this  new  head,  but  I  be- 
lieve it  can  be  accomplished  on  the  basis  of  love  of  God  and  service 
to  one's  fellow  man." 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  129 

time;  they  have  been  happy  in  their  lives,  exact  in 
their  mutual  observances,  and  have  multiplied  and 
fructified  exceedingly.  Their  democratic  feelings  are 
in  the  main  far  above  anything  that  western  culture 
has  yet  evolved.  The  East  is  in  many  ways  the  home 
of  pure  democracy  —  the  region  where  the  cobbler  may 
always  magically  become  the  great  Minister.  Their 
sense  of  mutual,  or  family,  responsibility  is  so  great 
that  where  no  alien  influences  have  been  at  work, 
millions  of  people  still  govern  themselves  without 
police  or  any  of  those  artificial  restraints  which  the 
West  has  been  methodically  adding  to  during  the  past 
centuries;  and  their  individual  reasonableness  is  such 
that  they  are  not  easily  prompted  to  attempt  a 
thousand  stupid  things  which  the  white  man  is  con- 
stantly doing.  ^ 

Among  all  these  millions  there  has  never  existed  the 
necessity  for  a  religion  such  as  the  Christian  religion, 
which  by  a  system  of  supernatural  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, in  the  main  plays  on  the  baser  feelings  of 
common  people  and  by  alternately  alluring  and 
frightening  them,  seeks  to  lead  them  to  Heaven  —  or, 

*  A  remarkable  instance  of  Chinese  political  tolerance  is  evi- 
denced by  the  present  treatment  of  the  Imperial  Ming  Family  — 
which  was  driven  from  the  Dragon  Throne  by  the  Manchu  Con- 
quest. Every  year,  at  the  proper  seasons,  the  lineal  descendants 
sacrifice  at  the  celebrated  tombs  of  their  ancestors  which  lie  only 
a  few  miles  from  Peking,  the  capital;  and  they  perform  this 
ceremony  under  full  protection  of  the  Government.  Not  only 
this,  but  the  fallen  House  is  in  receipt  of  liberal  pensions. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  the  Stuarts  were  driven  from 
England  at  much  the  same  time  as  the  Mings  were  driven  from 
Peking,  and  the  peculiar  difference  in  the  treatment  shows  that 
in  certain  matters  the  Chinese  have  remained  far  ahead  of  Eu- 
rope. 


130      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

at  least,  to  save  them  from  Hell.^  There  has,  there- 
fore, been  the  marvellous  spectacle  of  the  mass  of  600 
millions  of  people,  who  —  until  the  rise  of  modern  Japan 
—  because  they  had  all  these  virtues,  were  an  easy  prey  to 
aggressive  and  bigoted  white  races  pressing  eagerly  for- 
ward to  grasp  the  riches  which  tradition  has  always 
associated  with  the  gilded  East.  Portugal,  Spain, 
Holland,  England,  France,  Russia,  all  these  nations  in 
the  past  have  been  morally  responsible  for  the  growth 
of  many  of  the  present  difficulties.  SteaHng  down  in 
trading-ships,  or  coming  boldly  in  men-of-war;  cross- 
ing frontier-rivers  on  rafts,  as  did  the  old-time  Cossack 
adventurers;  riding  into  the  country  concealed  in 
caravans  —  all  these  men  of  the  West  have  in  various 
ways,  perhaps  unconsciously  and  unwittingly,  pro- 
claimed Europe's  real  and  only  gospel  —  the  gospel  of 
force;  a  gospel  inherently  so  stupid  that  for  many 
decades  the  yellow  men  refused  to  believe  it,  until  the 
Japanese,  forced  to  do  so,  accepted  it  with  sudden 
fervour,  and  by  their  acceptance  definitely  marked  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era. 

Now,  it  is  commonly  held  that  the  great  nationalist 
movement  which  has  swept  across  Asia  and  spread 
broadcast  the  idea  that  Asia  must  wake  up  and  copy 
the  West,  so  as  successfully  to  fight  the  West,  is 
traceable  simply  to  Japan's  remarkable  success  in  her 
recent  war  with  Russia,  and  to  nothing  else;  that  is,  to 
Japan's  success  in  driving  back  to  her  own  frontiers  a 

^  It  is  true  that  Buddhism  permits  hideous  gods  and  pictorial 
representations  of  Heaven  and  Hell  in  its  temples,  but  these  are  only 
for  the  common  people.  The  instructed  man  in  Eastern  Asia,  for 
at  least  thirty  centuries,  has  been  so  far  civilised  that  he  confines 
himself  to  a  few  observances,  all  of  which  are  in  the  nature  of  honours 
paid  to  the  Principle  of  Life. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  131 

very  great  but  somewhat  simple-minded  white  nation. 
Since  nothing  succeeds  Hke  success,  and  since  this  one 
small  but  densely-populated  yellow  man's  country  has 
dramatically  proved  beyond  all  doubt  how  much  can  be 
effected  by  boldly  employing  the  arts  of  modern  war 
against  modern  Europeans,  it  may  be  admitted  that  the 
apparent  cause  of  this  great  movement  in  Asia  is  really 
Japan.  But  the  real  cause  lies  much  deeper,  and  has, 
indeed,  always  been  in  existence.  It  is  this  which  must 
now  be  dealt  with. 

Stated  in  simple  language,  this  cause  is  simply  the 
antipathy  which  must  always  exist  between  two 
unsympathetic  elements,  one  of  which  has  constantly 
proved  itself  superior  to  the  other  —  an  antipathy  which 
now  dares  to  show  itself  where  before  it  did  not  dare. 
This  antipathy  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  entirely  a 
matter  of  colour.  It  is  nothing  of  the  sort.  It  arises 
simply  because  Europe  has  lorded  it  over  Asia  for  so 
long;  has  so  insisted  to  Asia  that  Europe  is  superior  in 
all  that  concerns  the  mastery  both  of  man  and  of  the 
forces  of  nature,  and  in  the  scientific  accumulation  of 
wealth,  that  native  races  in  the  end  perforce  accepted 
the  white  man  at  his  own  valuation,  and  marked  him 
down  as  a  necessary  evil  which  would  have  to  be 
tolerated  until  it  could  be  fought  on  its  own  terms  and 
so  cast  aside.  In  this  process  of  reasoning,  on  the 
Asiatic  side  there  is  Httle  question  of  colour,  no  matter 
what  there  might  be  on  the  European  side.  The 
white  man  is  not  hateful  because  he  is  white,  but 
because  he  is  strong,  confident  and  overbearing.  The 
Asiatic  is  being  therefore  forced  to  adopt  his  new 
attitude  in  self-defence;  and  though  of  course,  colour 
has    admittedly   become   a    barrier   and    also   a    great 


132      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

irritant,  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  the  white 
man  who  has  largely  taught  the  coloured  man  that  this 
is  so.  Let  us  repeat  it.  It  is  because  Europe's  standard 
has  been  so  much  higher  than  Asia's  standard  during 
the  past  century  or  two,  and  her  strength  consequently 
so  much  greater,  that  Europe  is  still  disliked  and  feared. 
This  is  nothing  but  the  natural  dislike  of  a  weaker 
man  for  a  stronger  man,  who  has  traded  on  his 
strength.  From  the  Asiatic  side  the  question  of  colour 
has  always  been  a  very  minor  one,  because  other  things 
have  been  so  much  more  vital.  And  here  we  pass  to  a 
new  and  still  stronger  consideration  which  must  be 
insisted  upon  almost  tediously. 

No  matter  how  much  Asia  may  better  herself,  no 
matter  how  much  she  may  succeed  in  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury in  reversing  the  verdict  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  in  proving  that  she  has  an  inherent  right  to  be  sole 
mistress  in  her  own  house,  there  exists  for  her  one  grand 
obstacle  which  nothing  in  the  world  can  properly  remove 
—  an  obstacle  which  is  practically  insurmountable. 
This  obstacle  is  climate,  the  modifying  and  destructive 
effect  of  which  has  never  been  properly  understood  by 
the  Western  world,  and  which  is  the  real  reason  why  no 
such  religion  as  the  Christian  religion  is  suited  to  Asia. 
The  climate  of  the  East  is  responsible  for  the  peculiar 
philosophy  and  social  atmosphere  of  the  East  —  both  of 
which  are  totally  different  from  the  philosophy  and 
social  atmosphere  of  the  West,  and  neither  of  which  can 
be  really  changed  in  their  fundamentals,  no  matter  what 
efforts  are  put  forth.  The  changes  will  be  in  material, 
practical  things  —  not  in  the  web  of  life  long  ago  woven 
to  its  final  form.  For  though  in  certain  portions  of 
the  Far  East  the  climate  approximates  to  that  obtaining 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  133 

at  the  other  end  of  the  hemisphere,  nevertheless  subtle 
differences  exist  which  in  a  few  generations  would  be 
sufficient  to  change  the  characteristics  of  any  white  race 
migrating  to  Eastern  Asia  and  which  would  assimilate 
that  race  to  the  autochthonous  race  around  them.  So 
great  a  role  does  this  question  of  climate  play  that  the 
attention  of  statesmen  should  be  concentrated  on  it  as  a 
very  vital  question  in  practical  politics.  For  just  as 
January  and  February  have  been  the  historic  Russian 
allies,  so  in  the  future  must  climate  be  the  white  man's 
great  ally  in  the  lands  of  the  coloured  man.  Many 
years  ago  Buckle,  one  of  the  first  students  properly  to 
understand  the  inner  meaning  of  this  vital  matter, 
correctly  showed  how  and  why  it  was  possible  for  culture 
and  civilisation  to  advance  a  certain  distance  in  hot 
climates  and  no  farther,  simply  because  the  internal 
incentive  to  progress  ceased  after  a  certain  point  had 
been  reached.  Here  it  may  be  parenthetically  remarked 
that  Europe  is  supplying  the  new  incentive  to  all 
countries  of  the  East;  and  because  that  incentive  comes 
from  without;  because  it  is  thus  a  "variable"  and  not 
a  "constant,"  no  man  may  yet  say  how  much  or  how 
little  it  may  everywhere  accomplish. 

Still  it  is  a  regrettable  fact  that  in  spite  of  such 
works  as  Buckle's  History  of  Civilisation,  little  or  no 
count  is  to-day  taken  of  this  fundamental  obstacle, 
which  possesses  such  immense  socio-political  value,  and 
which  should  always  be  carefully  studied  in  order  to 
obtain  the  proper  perspective  in  the  case  of  sadly- 
involved  problems.  No  one  knows  better  than  the 
Japanese  leaders  that  the  greatest  danger  for  them  is  not 
really  war,  since  they  will  never  embark  on  any  purely 
speculative    campaign,    but    backsliding,    largely    from 


134       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

climatic  effect,  in  all  matters  where  they  have  borrowed 
from  the  West.^  This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  they 
fear  most  of  all  no  external  foe,  but  simply  the 
possibility  of  a  natural  failure  to  accumulate  wealth  and 
strength    in   that   arithmetical    progression   which    has 

*  It  would  be  well  if  Japanese  statesmen  pondered  over  the 
following  words,  and  understood  their  ultimate  meaning.  The 
capacity  for  planting  healthy  colonies  is  certainly  not  possessed 
by  the  Japanese. 

"In  yet  another  way  does  the  national  genius  affect  the  growth 
of  sea-power  in  its  broadest  sense;  and  that  is  in  so  far  as  it 
possesses  the  capacity  for  planting  healthy  colonies.  Of  colonisa- 
tion, as  of  all  other  growths,  it  is  true  that  it  is  most  healthy  when 
it  is  most  natural.  Therefore  colonies  that  spring  from  the  felt  wants 
and  natural  impulse  of  a  whole  people  will  have  the  most  solid 
foundations;  and  their  subsequent  growth  will  be  surest  when 
they  are  least  trammelled  from  home,  if  the  people  have  the 
genius  for  independent  action.  Men  of  the  past  three  centuries 
have  keenly  felt  the  value  to  the  mother  country  of  colonies  as  out- 
lets for  the  home  products  and  as  a  nursery  for  commerce  and 
shipping;  but  efforts  at  colonisation  have  not  had  the  same 
general  origin,  nor  have  different  systems  all  had  the  same  success. 
The  efforts  of  statesmen,  however  far-seeing  and  careful,  have  not 
been  able  to  supply  the  lack  of  strong  natural  impulse;  nor  can 
the  most  minute  regulation  from  home  produce  as  good  results  as 
a  happier  neglect,  when  the  germ  of  self-development  is  found  in 
the  national  character.  There  has  been  no  greater  display  of 
wisdom  in  the  national  administration  of  successful  colonies  than 
in  that  of  unsuccessful.  Perhaps  there  has  been  even  less.  If 
elaborate  system  and  supervision,  careful  adaptation  of  means  to 
ends,  diligent  nursing,  could  avail  for  colonial  growth,  the 
genius  of  England  has  less  of  this  systematising  faculty  than 
the  genius  of  France;  but  England,  not  France,  has  been  the 
greater  coloniser  of  the  world.  Successful  colonisation,  with  its 
consequent  effect  upon  commerce  and  sea-power,  depends  essen- 
tially upon  national  character;  because  colonies  grow  best  when 
they  grow  of  themselves,  naturally.  The  character  of  the  colonist, 
not  the  care  of  the  home  government,  is  the  principle  of  the 
colony's  growth."  —  Mahan :  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  His- 
tory. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  135 

become  the  order  of  the  day  among  white  races.  Such 
a  failure  would  be  due  not  to  any  sin  of  omission  in 
the  matter  of  faithful  copying,  but  would  merely  spring 
from  the  fact  that  the  home  motive-power  is  utterly 
different. 

This  is  an  important  conclusion.  The  very  complete 
and  elaborate  system  of  checks  and  counter-checks 
which  has  everywhere  to  be  noted  in  modern  Japan  has 
no  doubt  been  instinctively  designed  with  the  special 
object  of  fighting  influences  which  are  inherent  in  the 
East  —  corruption,  laziness,  postponement,  inattention, 
unenthusiasm,  slackness,  sloth  —  influences  which  tend 
to  bring  things  to  the  natural  level  at  which  they  can  be 
maintained  with  the  minimum  of  physical  and  mental 
effort.^  Though  the  Japanese  have  of  late  years  been 
more  successful  than  any  other  non-Aryan  people  in 
borrowing  and  adopting  the  civilisation  and  inventions 
of  the  West,  they  have  not  been  so  entirely  successful 
as  is  popularly  supposed.  Conflict  with  the  West  —  just 
as  much  as  contact  with  the  West  —  is  the  reviving  force 
for  them,  the  incentive  on  which  they  must  rely,  the  very 
soul  of  their  new  life.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  will 
require  hundreds  of  years,  even  with  the  aid  of  countless 
artificial  means,  before  modern  Japan  can  succeed  in 
attaining  a  semblance  of  modern  Europe.  Japanese 
efficiency  to-day  is,  therefore,  only  high  when  compared 
with  the  efficiency  of  the  rest  of  the  East,  and  not 
when  compared  with  the  efficiency  of  Europe  or 
America.     Yet   so  little  is  this   understood   that  in   a 

^  Even  as  soldiers  and  sailors  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Japanese  are  not  the  equals  of  Europeans.  Though  they  have 
great  fire  and  dash,  they  are  easily  discouraged  and  easily  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  their  own  limitations.  The  Russian  war  proved 
nothing  that  has  not  been  long  known  to  students  in  the  Far  East. 


136       THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR        ch. 

recent  political  work  a  very  eminent  English  statesman 
was  found  to  write  a  preface,  in  which  he  called  upon 
his  countrymen  to  emulate  the  Japanese  in  their  signal 
efficiency  in  all  things ! 

Still,  no  matter  how  great  may  be  the  discrepancy 
between  the-  ideal  Japan,  as  conceived  by  those  living 
many  thousands  of  miles  away,  and  the  real  Japan, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  in  the  world  of  Eastern 
Asia  it  is  this  one  Island  Empire  which  is  by  far  the 
most  important  factor,  the  pivot  on  which  the  whole 
latter-day  problem  may  turn.  Though  China  be  many 
times  greater  in  area,  riches  and  population,  this  must 
long  remain  as  it  is  at  present.  And  the  second  strange 
fact  to-day  is  that  though  Japan  is  racially  in  the 
opposite  camp  to  Europe  —  that  is,  of  necessity  entirely 
opposed  to  the  white  races  —  yet,  owing  to  her  astute 
diplomacy,  she  has  ranged  herself  politically  on  the  side 
of  those  who  desire  to  maintain  indefinitely  the  status  quo 
throughout  Asia,  and  therefore,  inferentially,  the  domi- 
nation of  Europe  in  Asia.  This  further  complicates 
any  properly-balanced  consideration  of  the  question. 

For  though  the  Japanese  may  be  considered  the  real 
head  and  front  of  the  growing  movement  in  Asia  for 
winning  that  general  equality  which  no  white  Power 
willingly  concedes,  they  are  still  the  political  allies  of 
England  for  the  special  purpose  of  holding  in  check 
undoubtedly  the  strongest  of  all  white  races  —  Russia  — 
which  because  of  its  outlying  geographical  situation  has 
always  been  Europe's  great  champion  against  Asia.  At 
the  same  time  the  Japanese  —  more  than  any  other 
Asiatic  people,  and  despite  their  private  and  justifiable 
ambitions  —  desire  for  a  number  of  years  the  goodwill 
of  the  whole  world,  so  that  their  commerce  may  greatly 


n  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  137 

expand  and  drag  them  from  the  slough  of  debt  in  which 
they  have  been  floundering  ever  since  the  great  war  with 
Russia.  Japan's  own  problem  is  therefore  more  intri- 
cate and  more  beset  by  real  and  apparent  contradictions 
than  any  other  political  problem  in  the  world ;  and  the 
training  which  Japanese  statesmen  are  now  receiving  in 
the  school  of  practical  politics  is  of  a  very  remarkable 
nature. 

For  this  strong  military  Power,  after  having  removed 
one  great  white  peril,  thanks  to  the  covert  help  of  two 
other  white  Powers,  finds  herself  not  only  crippled  by 
an  immense  debt  of  2,500  million  yeriy  but  absolutely 
debarred  from  sending  her  surplus  population  to  those 
opposite  shores  of  the  Pacific  where  their  labour  would 
be  immediately  remunerative,  and  where  that  labour 
would  be  economically  in  the  nature  of  debt-repayment. 
And  the  countries  which  thus  debar  her  are  the  very 
lands  which  only  yesterday  were  affording  her  that 
valuable  moral  and  financial  help  which  allowed  her  to 
triumph  in  a  gigantic  war.  Furthermore,  as  it  is 
necessary  for  her  to  extract  to  the  uttermost  farthing 
everything  of  value  from  those  regions  where  this  war 
left  her  securely  entrenched  —  that  is,  Korea  and 
Southern  Manchuria  —  the  people  of  these  regions, 
though  they  are  of  kindred  races,  are  estranged  and  are 
sensibly  contributing  to  the  vague  feeling  of  distrust 
which  renders  the  peaceful  winning  of  the  hegemony  of 
Eastern  Asia  more  than  doubtful.  Nor  must  it  be  for- 
gotten that  commerce  and  industry  have  not  flourished 
under  the  bureaucratic-monopolistic  system  which  has 
found  such  favour  in  Japan.  We  have  thus  a  discon- 
tented nation,  a  poor  nation  and  a  restricted  nation, 
which  is  yet  a  powerful  military  nation,  and  which  is 


138       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

geographically  so  situated  that  as  long  as  China  remains 
weak,  it  will  always  be  child's  play  for  the  statesmen  of 
Tokyo  to  impose  their  will  on  the  statesmen  of  Peking 
in  such  a  way  that  Chinese  autonomy  will  become  less 
of  a  reality  than  it  is  now.  Since  the  vital  necessity  of 
Japan's  policy  is  to  establish  a  community  of  interests 
between  all  the  yellow  races,  that  she  will  begin  with 
the  strongest  of  them  all  can  scarcely  be  doubted. 

For  having  been  the  very  first  of  all  Asiatic  Powers 
to  win  political  equality  with  the  white  Powers,  Japan 
feels  that  to  her  belongs  the  proud  privilege  of  leading 
that  grand  movement  which  has  for  object  the  re- 
establishment  of  a  condition  which  undoubtedly  existed 
at  one  period  of  the  world's  history  —  that  is,  the 
absolute  equality  of  civilised  men,  irrespective  of  colour 
or  creed.  That  this  is  a  work  of  gigantic  proportions 
Japanese  statesmen  will  understand;  but  experience  has 
long  shown  them  that  if  the  final  objective  is  never  lost 
sight  of  ;  if  work  proceeds  night  and  day;  if  all  the 
national  energies  are  devoted  towards  consummating  the 
desired  end,  and  all  else  is  strictly  subordinated  to  that 
end  —  the  impossible  becomes  in  the  end  possible,  and 
is  through  persistence  finally  translated  into  undeniable 
reahty. 

Japan's  whole  history  proves  that.  When  Com- 
modore Perry  forced  her  fifty  years  ago  to  abandon  her 
policy  of  seclusion,  the  humiliation  of  her  relations 
with  Western  nations  was  just  as  great  as  Chinese 
humiliation  has  always  been  since  the  Canton  wars  of 
eighty  years  ago.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  certainly  no  one  would  have  guessed  that  she 
would  rise  superior  to  all  the  many  restrictions  with 
which  she  was  oppressed.     Her  commerce  was  virtually 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  139 

regulated  by  the  foreign  Powers  by  means  of  a  cast- 
iron  tariff  which  she  was  not  at  liberty  to  revise  with- 
out their  consent;  her  laws  and  her  officials  had  no 
control  whatsoever  over  foreigners  resident  within  the 
limits  of  her  Empire;  she  had  no  miHtary  importance; 
she  was  closely  watched  and  generally  given  to  under- 
stand that  she  was  rated  as  inferior.  That  she  was 
actually  inferior  in  many  ways  is  shown  by  the  fear  in 
which  she  always  held  decadent  China,  until  she  beat 
China  fifteen  years  ago.  It  required  the  efforts  of 
forty  years  to  recover  her  judicial  and  commercial 
autonomy;  she  had  hardly  done  that  and  established 
her  complete  independence,  when  the  Russian  peril 
suddenly  loomed  up  so  large  that  it  seemed  possible 
that,  after  she  had  escaped  from  the  moral  thraldom  of 
Europe,  she  was  destined  to  be  reduced  to  the  position 
of  vassal  to  one  particular  European  Power.^ 

^  It  is  very  necessary,  when  dealing  with  Asia  and  Asiatic 
problems,  not  to  follow  European  methods  of  reasoning,  but 
Asiatic  methods,  if  a  true  understanding  of  actual  conditions  is 
really  aimed  at. 

Thus  in  the  matter  of  South  Manchuria,  it  is  of  the  highest 
importance  to  realise  that  the  Japanese  reasoning  is  as  follows. 
In  1894-5,  Japan  fought  China  and  beat  her  ignominiously  — 
much  as  Turkey  beat  Greece  in  the  campaign  of  1897.  By  the  Treaty 
of  Shimonoseki,  signed  in  1895,  China  ceded  to  Japan  the  Liaotung 
Territory  —  a  region  which  comprises  nearly  half  the  territory 
of  South  Manchuria  now  dominated  by  Japan.  But  imme- 
diately thereafter  three  Powers,  Russia,  France  and  Germany, 
intervened  on  China's  behalf,  and  demanded  the  retrocession  of 
this  territory.  Japan,  forced  to  accede  to  this  display  of  force, 
signed  the  Retrocession  Agreement  by  which  the  Liaotung  Terri- 
tory was  restored  to  China  on  the  payment  of  an  additional 
indemnity  of  thirty  million  Kuping  silver  taels  (about  five  mil- 
lions sterling  in  those  days). 

The  Japanese  attitude  then  really  is  that  morally   the    Liaotung 


140       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

Now  this  recent  war,  successful  as  it  was  from  many 
points  of  view  —  and  especially  from  the  point  of  view 
first  mentioned  —  was  harmful  to  Japan  in  one  impor- 
tant particular  where  she  least  expected  it  to  be.  It  has 
proved  to  her  beyond  any  shadow  of  doubt  that  no 
matter  how  much  the  world  may  applaud  the  spectacle 
of  a  David  battling  with  a  Goliath,  when  it  comes  to 
allowing  an  Eastern  David  the  same  privileges  as  the 
ordinary  white  man  in  other  regions  of  the  world,  a 
universal  shout  forbids  it.  To  put  it  plainly,  Japan 
was  permitted  to  push  back  Russia  a  step  or  two;  but 
she  has  since  been  shown  that  the  citizenship  of  the 
world  belongs  to  the  white  man  and  to  him  alone. 
Common  honesty,  therefore,  requires  it  to  be  generally 
acknowledged  that  if  the  Island  Empire  of  the  East 
soon  develops  an  intensive  policy  in  Eastern  Asia  —  and 
succeeds  in  binding  Eastern  Asia  into  one  political 
whole  —  one  of  the  most  powerful  contributory  causes 
must  be  sought  in  the  uncompromising  attitude  of  the 
white  man  on  those  shores  of  the  Pacific  where  the 
proximity  of  enormous  races  of  coloured  men  has  filled 
even  a  race  that  believes  itself  to  be  unalterably 
dominant  full  of  open  fear. 

For  some  years  to  come  this  welding  of  Eastern  Asia 
into  one  whole  will  not  become  so  clear  as  to  arouse 

Territory  belongs  to  Japan  by  an  actual  treaty,  which  was  tem- 
porarily rendered  impotent  owing  to  alien  interference.  She 
has  but  to  return  the  Chinese  indemnity  to  enter  into  full  enjoyment 
of  her  rights  —  a  further  sum  securing  her  tenure  of  the  additional 
territory  which  she  now  dominates,  thanks  to  the  Russian  war. 
The  writer  seriously  invites  attention  to  this  point  of  view. 
It  is  not  Asiatic  casuistry  —  it  is  Asiatic  reasoning,  which  abhors 
white  man's  reasoning,  based  as  that  reasoning  mainly  is  on  a  logic 
which  Asia  does  not  accept. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  141 

universal  concern  and  a  new  grouping  of  the  Powers. 
Great  financial  difficulties  have  to  be  overcome  by 
Japan  ;  ^    England    must   not    be  estranged;   China  — 

^  It  is  necessary  to  point  out  clearly  that,  however  much 
Japan's  relative  poorness  may  be  decried,  she  can  —  if  necessity 
demands  —  still  lay  her  hand  on  a  source  of  revenue  which  would 
provide  her  with  every  facility  for  large  national  borrowings. 

This  source  is  the  land-tax  —  which  is  still  very  light  compared 
with  the  rest  of  Japanese  taxation.  In  1877,  when  the  total 
revenue  of  the  Government  was  yen  59,000,000,  nearly  two-thirds 
of  this  sum  was  derived  from  the  land-tax.  In  1907,  when  the 
total  revenue  was  estimated  at  yen  616,000,000,  less  than  15  per  cent., 
or  yen  85,000,000,  was  contributed  by  the  land-tax.  Now  these 
figures  are  especially  significant  in  that  until  the  Restoration  in 
1867  taxation  rested  entirely  on  the  land.  At  one  time,  as  much 
as  seven-tenths  of  the  produce  was  taken  by  the  Government, 
and  under  the  Tokugawa  administration,  which  lasted  from 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  year  1867,  the  average  rate 
of  taxation  was  certainly  never  less  than  four-tenths  of  the  gross 
produce.  In  1868,  the  first  year  of  Meiji,  the  land  was  virtually 
nationalised,  the  feudal  barons  restoring  their  estates  to  the 
Emperor.  It  was  in  turn  bestowed  by  the  Emperor  upon  the 
villages  subject  to  an  annual  tax  based  upon  a  general  assessment 
of  the  value  obtained  from  the  ruling  prices  of  agricultural  produce. 
The  total  official  valuation  at  that  time  was  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred million  yen  and  the  first  tax  was  levied  at  the  rate  of  a 
half  per  cent.  The  same  valuation  is  in  force  to-day,  but  since  the 
Russian  war  the  rate  of  tax  has  been  increased  to  20  per  cent,  on 
City  Building  Land;  8  per  cent,  on  Village  Building  Land;  5 J 
per  cent,  on  Fields,  Forests,  &c.  Large  as  these  increases  may 
appear  in  percentages  they  only  double  the  revenue  from  the  land- 
tax,  and  are  trivial  in  comparison  with  the  increased  value  of  the 
land,  its  products  or  its  rental.  Taking  the  country  as  a  whole, 
the  official  value  upon  which  the  land-tax  is  levied  is  only  about  one- 
eighth  of  the  present  market  value,  so  that  proportionately  to  the 
first  levy  the  land-tax  should  yield  yen  320,000,000  instead  of  yen 
85,000,000.  It  is  well-known  that  the  Government  of  Japan  is  keep- 
ing this  source  of  revenue  untouched  as  a  last  reserve  for  war- 
purposes.  Undoubtedly  the  land-tax  in  Japan  could  be  made  to 
provide  the  service  of  a  fresh  debt  of  one  hundred  millions  sterling. 


142       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

already  suspicious,  uneasy  and  openly  restive  —  must  be 
handled  with  care;  and  generally  no  false  moves 
attempted  from  vainglorious  motives.  Japan's  first 
business,  then,  must  simply  consist  in  placing  herself  in 
such  an  international  position  as  to  have  the  leadership 
of  the  Far  East  gradually  and  naturally  fall  to  her, 
and  so  gradually  and  naturally  be  acknowledged  by 
all.  That  is  the  first  essential;  and  though  it  may 
still  sound  a  little  unbelievable,  it  is  perceptibly  more 
possible  of  belief  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 

Still,  although  the  small  yellow  nations,  such  as  Siam 
and  Indo-China,  are  probably  already  quite  willing 
secretly  to  concede  to  Japan  such  a  leadership  as  has 
been  outlined,  in  preference  to  Europe's  open  domina- 
tion, and  although  Korea  has  already  been  forced  to  ac- 
knowledge Japan's  sovereignty,  the  question  of  China  is 
undoubtedly  a  very  different  matter.  Though  there  are 
to-day  voices  endlessly  whispering  messages  of  hope  and 
intrigue  in  the  vernacular  Press,  in  the  schoolrooms,  in 
the  very  Yamens  of  the  highest,  China  still  resolutely  re- 
fuses to  lend  herself  to  designs  which  even  in  the  minds 
of  Tokyo  statesmen  are  necessarily  shadowy  and  ill- 
defined.  For  one  of  the  most  remarkable  Chinese 
national  characteristics  is  an  unbounded  belief  in  the 
vitality  and  genius  of  their  race  —  a  belief  that  political 
difficulties  which  seem  at  any  given  moment  over- 
whelming are  slowly  removed  by  the  unconscious  efforts 
of  a  great  and  swarming  population.  History  certainly 
proves  to  a  large  extent  the  correctness  of  this  view; 
but  history  is  sometimes  a  treacherous  guide,  and  days 
are  certainly  drawing  near  which  have  an  ugly  look  for 
those  who  pin  their  faith  solely  to  the  lessons  of  the 
past. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  143 

Still  it  is  admittedly  by  no  means  certain  that  this 
state  of  affairs  —  this  Chinese  reluctance  to  side  with 
Japan  —  will  last  indefinitely.  For  one  or  two  decades 
more  Chinese  jealousy  may  actually  provide  a  valuable 
counterpoise  to  the  present  disturbed  balance  of  power 
in  Eastern  Asia,  and  thus  complicate  the  problem 
Japan  has  ahead  of  her.  But  in  the  natural  order  of 
things,  other  conquests  will  be  added  to  those  Japan 
has  made  during  the  past  fifteen  years;  ^  and  these  will 

*  Those  who  delude  themselves  into  believing  that  there  is  no 
longer  any  basis  for  animadversions  against  Japanese  militarism  would 
do  well  to  ponder  over  the  following  statements  made  by  Jap- 
anese Ministers  of  War  and  Navy  during  the  budget  debates  of 
the  year  1910:  —  "The  military  undertakings  in  Manchuria  and 
Korea  were  being  pushed  on  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  already 
adopted.  As  regarded  national  defence,  a  Bill  had  been  intro- 
duced to  the  Diet  some  years  ago  providing  for  the  strengthening 
of  armaments.  At  that  time  the  Government  wished  to  increase 
the  standing  army  to  25  divisions,  this  expansion  being  based  on 
the  necessity  of  keeping  pace  with  Foreign  Powers.  The  Govern- 
ment, however,  was  compelled  to  yield  to  financial  considerations, 
and  the  force  was  increased  to  19  divisions  only.  The  Powers  of 
the  world  were  strenuously  exerting  their  efforts  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  peace,  but  the  maintenance  of  peace  depended  on  the 
balance  of  armaments  being  maintained.  The  Powers  are  ac- 
cordingly steadily  increasing  the  force  of  their  armies  and  navies, 
as  they  desired  peace.  In  these  circumstances,  Japan  could  not 
be  content  with  the  existing  force  of  her  armaments  for  long,  and 
it  would  be  necessary  for  Japan  to  increase  them  in  due  course." 
From  these  statements,  it  is  quite  plain  that  what  the  writer  has 
consistently  affirmed  —  that  no  change  of  programme  is  contem- 
plated by  Japan  and  that  she  is  determined  to  win  the  open  hege- 
mony of  the  East  —  is  true.  Her  policy  has  been  the  clever  policy 
of  throwing  dust  in  people's  eyes  until  she  is  ready  to  stand  un- 
masked. 

It  may  be  added  that,  according  to  the  best  information,  Japan 
has  this  year  (1910),  1,200,000  fully-trained  men,  available  on 
mobilisation;  by  1916  this  number  will  be  increased  to  1,637,000. 
Besides    these    fully-trained    men    there   will    be    846,000    partially- 


144       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

enable  her  gradually  to  tighten  her  grip  on  Peking  and 
force  the  adoption  of  Japanese  views,  for  fear  that 
something  worse  may  happen.  And  it  is  well  here  to 
remember  that  this  has  always  been  the  great  bane  of 
Chinese  politics  —  the  purchasing  of  temporary  reHef  by 
far-reaching  and  little-understood  concessions.  There 
is  the  strongest  likelihood  that  something  of  the  sort 
may  be  seen  again;  it  is  the  most  probable  outcome  of 
an  infinitely  difficult  situation. 

For  it  must  be  remembered  that  just  as  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  alliance  is  a  temporising  measure  for  England, 
so  it  is  a  temporising  measure  for  Japan.  The 
British  alliance  may  be  necessary  until  the  second  or 
third  decade  of  the  present  century;  but  it  certainly 
will  not  be  necessary  for  very  much  longer.  And  its 
termination  may  be  the  signal  for  the  proclamation  of 
a  new  and  very  different  combination  founded  on  colour 
and  geography,  and  taking  its  rise  from  certain 
stubborn  facts. 

Already  it  may  be  said  broadly  that  in  certain  ways 

trained  men  who  will  be  quite  good  enough  to  replace  casualties 
in  the  field — thus  giving  a  total  mobilised  strength  in  1916  of 
2,483,000  fighting  men.  Further,  owing  to  Japan's  increasing 
population,  which  has  now  reached  nearly  53,000,000,  and  which 
multiplies  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a  year,  and  owing  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  service  with  the  colours  from  three  to  two  years,  the  annual 
peace  contingent  of  conscripts  has  been  increased  from  80,000  in 
1905  to  120,000  in  1909.  As  about  520,000  young  men  reach  the 
age  of  20  every  year,  those  who  are  not  taken  for  the  conscription, 
and  who  are  physically  fit,  are  held  to  military  service  up  to  the  age 
of  40,  and  anticipatory  arrangements  have  been  made  in  the  event 
of  a  prolonged  war  for  calling  them  out  by  classes  and  training  them 
at  the  depots.  These  men,  about  3,000,000  in  number,  would  have 
to  be  reckoned  with  as  a  final  reserve  of  the  armed  strength 
of  Japan. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  145 

the  situation  in  the  whole  of  Asia,  though  more 
especially  in  Eastern  Asia,  is  not  entirely  unlike  what  it 
was  in  Europe  when,  after  the  French  Revolution  had 
overturned  the  French  Monarchy,  the  French  Republic, 
rising  out  of  the  ashes  left  by  that  giant  conflagration, 
began  the  deliberate  policy  of  "revolutionising"  or  at- 
tempting to  "revolutionise"  all  neighbouring  countries 
by  sending  abroad  emissaries  who  insistently  preached 
the  gospel  of  liberty,  and  gave  the  promise  of  armed 
help  to  all  who  desired  to  sweep  away  the  abuses  and 
intolerances  of  the  old  regime.  The  success  of  this 
French  propaganda  —  after  an  initial  period  of  doubt 
—  was  overwhelming  in  Europe;  and,  being  encouraged 
to  rise  against  their  rulers,  broken  monarchies  became 
the  order  of  the  day.  The  natural  consequence  of  this 
great  movement  was  that  when  the  time  was  ripe  —  and 
the  god  of  the  machine  had  appeared  in  the  person  of  a 
Napoleon  —  these  "revolutionised"  countries  had  to 
submit  to  an  iron  imperial  sway,  embracing  practically 
all  Europe. 

Now  though  it  may  sound  singularly  exaggerated 
and  improper  to  see  in  Japan  a  copyist  in  any  way  of 
the  first  Napoleonic  Empire,  it  is  a  very  remarkable 
fact  that  in  a  modified  form  many  features  are  to  be 
observed  in  the  present  situation  in  Asia  which  are 
similar  to  those  obtaining  in  Europe  a  century  ago.  It 
can  no  longer  be  doubted  that  a  very  deliberate  policy 
is  certainly  being  quietly  and  cleverly  pursued. 
Despite  all  denials,  it  is  a  fact  that  Japan  has  already  a 
great  hold  in  the  schools  and  in  the  vernacular  news- 
papers all  over  Eastern  Asia,  and  that  the  gospel  of 
"Asia  for  the  Asiatics"  is  being  steadily  preached  not 
only  by  her  schoolmasters  and  her  editors,  but  by  her 


146       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

merchants  and  pedlars  and  every  other  man  who 
travels.  It  is  also  a  fact  surely  worthy  of  special  note, 
that  wherever  Japan  sets  her  foot  —  no  matter  how  she 
may  have  placed  it  there,  and  no  matter  what  promises 
she  may  have  given  regarding  evacuation  —  there  she 
remains  for  good,  making  her  tenure  indisputable  under 
specious  forms  such  as  the  great  Napoleon  delighted  in 
devising.  In  this  there  is  nothing  exceptional:  it  is 
merely  the  working  of  that  universal  law  which  causes 
strong  bodies  to  overpower  and  absorb  the  weak. 

Thus  during  the  past  fourteen  years  Japan  has 
actually  gained  Formosa,  Korea,  the  Liaotung  Territory 
and  Southern  Saghalien  —  territories  far  greater  than  the 
Japanese  isles  themselves  —  and  she  is  already  the  virtual 
arbiter  of  an  immense  region  in  Manchuria  larger  than 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  In  both  of  the  two  wars 
which  she  fought  to  capture  these  various  territories,  she 
began  by  expressing  the  same  disinterestedness  and  the 
same  purity  of  motives  —  protestations  which  seemed 
so  true  that  it  has  actually  appeared  as  \{  force  majeure 
in  the  end  alone  necessitated  a  reversal  of  the  pro- 
claimed policy.  Yet  no  matter  what  mitigating  circum- 
stances apologists  may  find,  it  is  certain  that  each  of  these 
two  wars  —  one  fought  against  China,  the  other  against 
Russia  —  was  virtually  settled  by  a  territorial  indemnity. 

Now  admitting  all  this,  and  realising  its  significance, 
it  is  well  to  know  that  at  the  present  moment  the  most 
urgent  problem  which,  masked  by  many  other  forms  of 
activity,  engages  the  attention  of  the  Tokyo  Govern- 
ment is  this:  How  can  Japan  ultimately  best  win  for 
herself  numbers  ?  * 

^  It  is  an  extraordinary  fact,  perhaps  worthy  of  mention,  that  this 
view  has  been  unexpectedly  confirmed  in  the  very  highest  quarter 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  147 

As  a  preliminary  to  the  argument  which  follows  and 
which  establishes  Japanese  policy  as  the  writer  sees  it,  it 
is  necessary  thoroughly  to  understand  that,  in  the  eyes  of 
Japanese  statesmen,  Japan  has  to-day  no  enemies :  she 
has  only  rivals.  To  the  cold  and  philosophic  Japanese 
mind  the  sensationalism  of  the  West,  which  confounds 
a  race  for  power  with  the  act  of  fighting  enemies,  is  un- 
worthy of  serious  men.  Japan  does  not  want  war  —  she 
has  never  desired  war  like  vainglorious  European 
nations.  The  way  the  problem  must  be  stated  is  this. 
From  the  Japanese  view-point  there  exist  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific  nations  feared  by  her  because  they  possess 
greater  wealth  and  greater  numbers  than  she  herself 
possesses  —  or  can  ever  possess  —  within  the  territorial 
limits  of  her  own  Empire,  unless  she  methodically 
extends  those  territorial  limits — either  by  direct  conquest 
or  by  some  indirect  acquirement  of  the  rights  of 
eminent  domain  which  will  place  at  her  disposal,  in 
industry  and  in  war,  the  millions  she  needs.  This  may 
sound  an  ambiguous  and  peculiar  method  of  stating  a 
plain  political  ideal;  but  it  is  just  such  ambiguous  and 
peculiar  phrasing  which  best  exposes  to  view  the  soul  of 

some  time  after  the  writer  had  set  down  his  own  argument.  In  the 
Budget  Debate  in  Japan  for  the  fiscal  year  1910-1911,  Count 
Komura,  Foreign  Minister,  said  that  Japan  had  become  a  con- 
tinental nation  as  a  result  of  the  late  great  war.  There  was 
China  with  400,000,000  people  close  by,  Russia  with  160,000,000 
on  the  west  and  America  with  100,000,000  on  the  east.  If  the 
Japanese  were  to  expand  in  the  midst  of  these  nations  they  must 
have  a  population  of  100,000,000  at  least.  Therefore  the  Japanese 
who  could  only  number  50,000,000  people  should  concentrate 
rather  than  scatter  themselves.  With  this  idea  the  Government 
intended  to  concentrate  the  emigrants  in  Manchuria  and  Korea. 
Surely  no  better  proof  could  be  adduced  by  the  writer  to  show 
that  he  has  correctly  read  the  Japanese  mind. 


148      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

that  diplomacy  which  is  so  disconcerting  to  Western 
minds.  The  Japanese  mental  attitude,  therefore,  is 
to-day  one  of  great  anxiety  —  anxiety  lest  a  priceless 
opportunity  be  allowed  to  slip  away  and  she  misses  in 
consequence  a  destiny  which  seems  as  manifest  to  her 
people  as  it  was  to  the  English  people  when  they  had 
beaten  France  in  the  old  colonial  days  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  view  of  her  abnormal  armaments  and  her 
great  striking  power,  some  may  refuse  to  believe  that 
Japan  is  really  so  filled  with  anxiety;  nevertheless  that 
anxiety  exists  and  is  a  very  real  force.  For  while  Japan 
can  be  bold  in  action,  she  is  timid  when  she  is  inactive; 
and,  with  all  her  armed  strength,  she  appreciates 
thoroughly  the  fact  that  she  possesses  certain  absolute 
limitations.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  she  is 
thoroughly  imbued  with  that  valuable  political  attribute, 
the  habit  of  really  taking  long  views  whilst  loudly 
talking  short  views. 

Now,  for  the  time  being  Japan  undoubtedly  still  fears 
Russia  most  of  all  her  rivals  —  because  that  fear  is  tradi- 
tional; because  of  the  relatively-speaking  negative 
results  achieved  by  the  late  war;  and  because,  more 
obviously  still,  if  she  is  to  be  the  arbiter  of  the  fate  of 
China,  she  must  guard  first  against  a  Power  whose 
frontiers  envelop  the  frontiers  of  China.  Next  to 
Russia  she  fears  America,  because  of  America's  wealth 
and  what  that  wealth  is  capable  of  rapidly  accomplish- 
ing. Last  of  all,  she  fears  China  because  of  China's 
latent  strength. 

The  Japanese  problem  is  therefore  a  problem  which 
constantly  requires  a  threefold  consideration;  and  it 
would  be  well  if  English  statesmen  realised  once  and 
for  all  that  they  stand  completely  outside  that  three- 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  149 

fold  consideration.  The  Japanese  problem,  to  •  be 
understood,  must  be  considered  from  the  poipt  of 
view  which  has  been  so  clearly  set  down.  For  Japan 
knows  that  if  China  ever  comes  to  her  own  —  either  of 
her  own  initiative  or  assisted  by  some  foreign  Power  — 
the  Chinese  Empire,  by  reason  of  its  enormous  popu- 
lation, may  become  to  the  rest  of  Eastern  Asia  what 
the  Roman  Empire  in  the  days  of  her  glory  was  to 
the  rest  of  Europe.  China  is  immense:  her  popula- 
tion extraordinary.  No  amount  of  efficiency  or 
cunning  can  destroy  the  fact  that  a  nation  out- 
numbered by  eight  to  one  is  a  nation  hopelessly  handi- 
capped in  any  struggle  a  Uoutrance.     This  Japan  knows. 

These  things  should,  then,  be  properly  considered. 
At  this  moment,  Japan  is  not  arming  against  Russia 
in  particular,  or  against  America,  or  against  China. 
She  is  arming  merely  because  of  the  facts  that  these 
three  mighty  countries  exist  in  her  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood—  that  is,  on  the  Pacific  Ocean;  that  the 
strength  of  each  of  these  three  countries  must  mightily 
expand;  but  that  by  making  immense  pecuniary 
sacrifices  it  is  still  possible  for  her  to  keep  sufficiently 
ahead  of  these  three  rivals  for  a  few  decades  to 
enable  her  periodically  to  take  advantage  of  any 
favourable  circumstances  which  may  arise  arid  thus  to 
offset  by  quickness  and  completed  preparations  what 
she  may  lack  in  inherent  strength.  That  is  what 
she  did  in  her  Chinese  War;  that  is  what  she  did 
in  her  Russian  War;  that  is  what  she  will  do  again. 
In  these  few  paragraphs  may  be  read  Japan's  real 
policy;  for  like  all  island  Powers,  she  must  gather 
strength  by  sudden  and  unexpected  action. 

Even  in  distant  days  Japanese  statesmen  have  always 


150      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

thoroughly  understood  that  on  basis  of  population, 
natural  ability,  or  extent  of  territory,  their  country 
is  really  in  a  class  far  beneath  the  three  rivals  who 
have  been  named.  To-day  the  statesmen  of  Tokyo 
realise  that  they  can  lay  no  permanent  claim  to  the 
title  of  Great  Power  on  the  Pacific,  when  what  may 
be  called  the  "  Dreadnought  age  "  of  Great  Powers  has 
arrived,  unless  the  hope  of  creating  a  Greater  Japan 
at  some  period  before  the  present  century  is  too  far 
advanced  is  completely  realised.  Japan,  having  tasted 
the  bitter-sweet  of  being  the  strongest  military  and  naval 
Power  in  modern  Asia,  will  never  consent,  without  a 
desperate  struggle,  to  be  relegated  to  a  more  lowly 
place.  Yet,  if  a  new  China  really  arises,  Japan  tnust  be 
relegated  to  the  relative  position  she  occupied  before 
the  war  of  1894-95  —  that  is  to  the  position  of  a  Minor 
Power.  And  she  is  determined  that  this  will  not  occur. 
Herein  lies  the  real  problem  of  Eastern  Asia  — 
herein  the  real  difficulty,  herein  the  tragedy  of  all 
recent  history.  Stripped  of  all  useless  verbiage,  it  may 
be  said  that  Japan,  by  immense  efforts  and  by  foreign 
aid,  has  placed  herself  in  a  wrong  class,  and  therefore 
in  a  permanently  false  position,  which  necessarily  throws 
everything  else  out  of  proportion.  Merely  because  of 
this  strange  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  may  or 
may  not  become  either  of  her,  or  of  the  rest  of  the 
Far  East,  during  the  present  century,  supposing  that 
her  three  real  competitors  continue  to  expand  in  point 
of  population,  and  therefore  in  wealth  and  potential 
strength,  just  as  they  are  expanding  at  present. 
There  is  really  no  end  to  the  possibilities  which  exist. 
The  problem  is  so  urgent,  so  fraught  with  subtle 
dangers,  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  too  much. 


n  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  151 

Let  us  tabulate  some  figures  and  understand  this 
thoroughly.  Few  people  give  enough  consideration 
to  simple  statistics;  yet  it  is  by  the  aid  of  these 
statistics  alone  that  the  general  position  can  be  under- 
stood. Numbers  are  what  Japan  needs  in  the  populous 
modern  world.  At  the  present  moment  the  Japanese 
population  is  almost  exactly  53,000,000.  By  1925, 
that  is,  in  fifteen  years,  however,  assuming  that  the  birth- 
rate remains  what  it  is  at  present,  the  Japanese  popula- 
tion will  equal  the  present  population  of  Germany  — 
63,000,000  people.  But  in  that  year  the  population 
of  Japan's  three  rivals  may  be  as  follows:  — 

Russia  200,000,000 

United  States 120,000,000 

China 475,000,000 

The  passage  of  another  quarter  of  a  century  will  find 
this  discrepancy  still  more  marked  —  unless  Japan  has 
conquered  Manchuria  and  other  parts  of  China.  In 
1950,  Japan  may  have  80,000,000  or  85,000,000 
people,  but  in  that  year  the  figures  of  her  rivals 
certainly  should  be :  — 

Russia 275,000,000 

United  States 170,000,000 

China 550,000,000 

By  the  end  of  the  present  century,  unless  this 
phenomenal  growth  of  populations  is  arrested  by  causes 
about  which  nothing  can  yet  be  written,  Japan,  though 
she  may  have  120,000,000  or  even  140,000,000 
people,  will  be  faced  by  the  following  figures :  — 

Russia 400,000,000 

United  States 300,000,000 

China 800,000,000  ^ 

^  The  present  writer  is  not  prepared  to  accept  entirely  Professor 
Pearson's  statement,  which  forms  so  important  a  part  in  his  main 


152      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

The  imagination  staggers  at  such  figures;  but  to  the 
student  in  China,  who  is  accustomed  to  immense  figures, 
and  who  knows  how  not  millions  or  tens  of  millions, 
but  hundreds  of  millions  are  toiling  in  a  limitless  land, 
there  is  nothing  very  startling  in  them.  Fifty  years 
ago,  in  the  Taiping  Rebellion,  about  loo  millions 
perished  in  two  decades  or  so  of  savage  warfare;  yet 
already  the  ground  where  the  greatest  slaughter  took 
place  has  been  filled. 

Now,  bearing  in  mind  the  political  rivalry  which 
from  now  on  should  grow  from  year  to  year,  in  spite  of 
all  talk  of  peace,  the  great  mass  of  this  population  will 
be  so  situated  as  to  press  on  Japan  and  be  a  potential 
source  of  menace.  Once  they  are  educated  and  drilled, 
China's  millions,  with  their  extraordinary  mental  and 
physical  activity,  will  man  for  man  be  more  than  a 
match  for  Japan  in  peaceful  times :  and  in  the  event  of 
war,  since  the  superiority  in  numbers  must  remain  at 
least  six  or  seven  to  one,  it  would  be  hopeless  for  Japan 
to  measure  strength  with  the  immense  Dragon  Empire 
—  for  all  the  courage  of  mythical  St.  George  would  be 

argument,  that  Chinese  numerical  preponderance  must  be  so 
overwhelming  in  the  future.  While  no  reliable  statistics  exist 
regarding  the  Chinese  decennial  increase,  we  know  that  one  white 
nation  —  Russia  —  is  now  adding  to  her  population  at  the  rate  of  at 
least  twenty-five  millions  every  decade;  that  that  rate  is  bound  to 
increase;  and  that  she  has  room  within  her  present  boundaries  for 
a  population  of  possibly  a  thousand  millions  —  that  is,  a  population 
of  150  persons  per  square  mile  in  her  seven  million  square  miles  of 
territory.  Russia  has  a  far  greater  feeding-capacity  than  the 
United  States;  and  it  is  therefore  this  country  rather  than  any 
other  —  because  its  boundaries  are  conterminous  —  which  will  ulti- 
mately act  as  a  natural  restraint  on  China,  though  for  the  moment 
other  countries  may  be  able  to  exercise  a  superior  political  in- 
fluence. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  153 

of  no  avail  against  army  corps  which  could  be  easily 
numbered  by  the  hundred,  if  it  were  only  a  question  of 
men.  At  the  end  of  the  present  century  Siberia  alone 
will  have  a  population  greatly  superior  to  the  popula- 
tion of  Japan;  and  this  population,  accustomed  to  the 
hard  blows  of  climate  and  conscious  of  its  lusty 
strength,  will  view  with  increasing  disfavour  any 
political  effacement  such  as  the  Russian  treaty-makers 
at  Portsmouth  were  not  ashamed  to  endorse.  In  these 
rapidly  coming  days  America  will  be  spilling  its  men 
and  its  products  over  the  Pacific;  and  as  this  develop- 
ment grows,  it  will  fill  the  broad  waters  of  the  Pacific 
with  the  signs  of  rival  ambitions. 

Surrounded  thus  by  fully  developed  rivals,  in  place  of 
the  present  undeveloped  rivals,  Japan,  should  nothing  be 
done  in  the  meantime,  will  be  more  unfortunately  situated 
than  Germany  in  Europe  has  ever  been.  The  Japanese 
people  have  but  little  genius  for  trade  or  industry, 
neither  have  they  commanding  mentality.  Germany, 
though  she  is  admittedly  surrounded,  has  now  won  for 
herself,  apart  from  every  other  consideration,  a  numerical 
superiority  —  which  nothing  can  strip  from  her  —  over 
her  neighbours  on  all  but  one  side.  But  in  the  case  of 
Japan  the  essential  point  is  different:  her  task  is  still 
ahead  of  her. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Japan's  task  is  to  win 
numbers  for  herself  during  the  present  century,  and  that 
to  obtain  those  numbers  she  must  annex  territory ;  but  at 
home  there  is  for  her  an  element  of  weakness  which  is 
seldom  referred  to.  For  even  the  supposition  that  the 
present  relative  position  will  be  maintained  is  un- 
certain: that  is,  it  is  by  no  means  beyond  doubt  that 
the  Japanese  birth-rate  will  remain  at  its  present  figure. 


154      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Japan  may  actually  lose  strength,  because  the  free 
expansion  of  her  population  overseas  is  impeded;  and 
this  is  what  she  fears  may  actually  occur  during  the 
present  century. 

Let  us  look  into  this  more  closely.  In  the  comparison 
just  made,  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  Japanese  popula- 
tion during  the  past  few  decades,  which  has  been  very 
regular,  was  taken  as  a  basis;  and  the  conclusion 
reached  was  that  by  1925  the  population  would  number 
63,000,000;  by  1950,  eighty  or  eighty-five  millions; 
and  by  the  end  of  the  century  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions,  or  even  one  hundred  and  forty  millions. 
Bearing  in  mind,  however,  certain  special  economic 
conditions,  now  springing  into  ever  greater  prominence 
in  modern  Japan,  and  remembering  that  the  growth  of 
the  Japanese  population,  like  all  other  Asiatic  popula- 
tions, has  often  been  restrained  by  special  causes 
other  than  warfare,  it  is  not  impossible  that  this  popula- 
tion may  gradually  assume  the  quasi-stationary  condition 
of  the  population  of  France.  There  are  certain  historic 
facts  which  help  one  to  believe  this;  and  as  such  a 
consummation  would,  of  course,  at  once  change  the 
entire  outlook,  it  is  well  to  be  more  explicit. 

Anterior  to  the  sixteenth  century,  there  are  few 
authentic  data  regarding  the  population  of  Japan. 
Japanese  mediaeval  records  only  give  the  numbers  of 
persons  subject  to  the  tax-roll;  the  enormous  number 
of  serfs  and  outcasts  was  never  estimated,  whilst 
children  were  likewise  ignored.  In  the  sixteenth 
century,  however,  it  is  tolerably  certain  that  the  popula- 
tion was  probably  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  millions  — 
Japan  being  thus  at  least  as  populous  as  some  of  the 
great  States  of  Europe,  Austria  then  having  sixteen. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  155 

France  fourteen,  Spain  eight,  and  England  five  million 
people.  But  after  that  a  change  gradually  took  place, 
and  European  investigators  have  brought  to  light  some 
remarkable  facts. 

From  the  beginning  of  what  is  known  as  the  Great 
Peace  in  Japan  (or  the  end  of  the  great  feudal  wars), 
the  population  increased  with  rapidity,  reaching  its 
maximum  in  the  year  1700.  By  1721,  the  influence 
of  the  long  calm  had  spent  itself.  It  was  in  that  year 
that  the  first  regular  census  was  taken,  and  hence- 
forward it  was  seen  that  there  was  no  real  increase  of 
population.  Two  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  this : 
the  first  that  no  efforts  were  made  to  enlarge  the  area 
of  tillable  land  or  to  stimulate  the  productivity  of  the 
soil ;  the  second  that  the  processions  of  the  daimios,  or 
nobles,  journeying  from  their  castles  to  the  capital, 
spread  everywhere  terribly  contagious  diseases,  such  as 
small  pox,  dysentery  and  typhus-fever,  which  decimated 
the  population.  But  in  addition  to  disease,  periodic 
famines  made  awful  ravages.  Thus,  though  in  1721 
the  population  had  been  estimated  at  26,061,830  souls, 
in  1792  it  was  reduced  to  24,891,411  and  in  1846  had 
only  risen  to  26,907,625.  In  a  word  the  Japanese 
population  for  over  a  century  was  absolutely  stationary. 
Now,  in  the  course  of  some  sixty-five  years,  it  has  almost 
exactly  doubled,  owing  to  the  opening  up  of  the 
country  and  the  spread  of  other  rejuvenating  influences. 
Already  new  economic  causes  are  beginning  to  appear 
which  may  once  again  check  the  growth,  though  not  so 
severely  as  in  olden  times. 

Briefly,  the  Japanese  Government,  by  adopting  at 
home  the  protective  principle,  in  its  severest  forms,  is 
virtually  reducing  the  nation  to  an  artificial  condition  as 


156      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

dangerous  to  natural  expansion  as  the  economic  and 
general  isolation  existing  during  the  Tokugawa  period. 
Foreign  capital  is  virtually  excluded  from  the  country, 
being  only  admitted  in  the  form  of  government,  quasi- 
government,  or  municipal  loans;  the  free  import  of 
food-stuffs  is  impeded  by  taxation  and  other  restrictions; 
state  monopolies  have  invaded  fields  w^hich  should  have 
been  left  open  to  private  enterprise;  in  every  direction 
the  free  activities  of  the  people  are  hampered ;  taxation 
has  become  so  irritating  in  that  the  sense  of  being 
heavily  taxed  is  continually  impressed  on  rich  and  poor 
alike,  v^^hilst  prices  are  rapidly  rising  and  trade  show^s  no 
signs  of  great  expansion.  Should  the  force  of  these 
various  factors  become  intensified,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  causes  operative  in  France  will  slowly 
become  operative  in  Japan,  and  small  families  will  be 
the  order  of  the  day.  Thus,  whereas  in  the  case  of  the 
great  rivals  on  the  Pacific,  Russia,  America,  and  China, 
there  are  no  such  cripphng  conditions,  and  men  are 
adding  to  their  numbers  either  through  the  operation 
of  the  birth-rate  or  by  wholesale  immigration  at  an  un- 
precedented rate,  in  Japan  the  source  of  all  wealth  — 
human  beings — is  being  tampered  with  in  order  to  make 
a  largely  fictitious  yearly  balancing  of  the  national 
account.  Internationally  this  may  one  day  have  a  most 
important  and  far-reaching  influence. 

For  Japan  the  problem  is  immensely  serious,  since 
all  the  unity  and  energy  in  the  world  will  avail  nothing 
if  the  present  disproportion  between  her  numerical 
strength  and  the  strength  of  her  rivals  increases.  It  is 
this  which  every  day  convinces  thinking  men  in  Japan 
more  and  more  of  the  necessity  of  annulling  those 
poHtical   boundaries   which   still   separate  the   various 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  157 

members  of  the  yellow  race.  More  than  sufficient  has 
already  been  said  to  demonstrate  clearly  the  stand-point 
from  which  modern  Japan  must  be  always  studied.  It 
is  as  the  nation  which  has  started  too  late  in  the  world's 
race,  and  which  though  isolated  by  sea  has  already 
acquired  a  firm  foothold  on  the  mainland  of  Asia  —  a 
foothold  as  disastrous  for  Asia,  as  was  for  all  concerned 
England's  foothold  on  the  continent  of  Europe  in  days 
gone  by.  It  is  as  the  nation  which  has  been  placed  in 
a  false  position,  owing  to  fortuitous  circumstances  —  a 
nation  which  has  three  other  great  nations,  each  on  the 
threshold  of  a  phenomenal  population-expansion,  openly 
watchful  and  openly  nervous,  since  it  has  been  due  to 
their  military  under-development  —  that  the  success  of 
the  military  over-development  of  Japan  was  rendered 
possible. 

Now  the  situation  in  China  is  very  favourable  for  the 
success  of  the  Japanese  policy  which  has  been  proclaimed 
in  these  pages.  The  passing  of  the  last  vestige  of  the 
old  regime  in  the  death  of  the  masterful  Empress 
Dowager,  and  the  complete  downfall  of  China's  one 
strong  man  of  action.  Yuan  Shih  Kai  —  both  of  whom 
understood  the  value  of  force  —  finds  the  vast  empire  in 
the  most  curious  of  intermediary  stages.  The  enthrone- 
ment of  an  infant  Emperor  under  the  tutelage  of  a 
young  and  inexperienced  but  altrustic  Regent  —  his 
father  —  signifies  the  beginning  of  a  provisional  regime 
which  must  last  for  nearly  a  generation,,  and  during 
which  no  firm  front  can  possibly  be  shown  —  without 
external  help  —  to  any  bold  enemy.  The  probabilities 
seem  to  point  clearly  to  the  fact  that  though  many 
changes  have  been  sanctioned  and  will  soon  be  enforced 
by  the  Peking  Government;    though  general  progress 


158      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

will  gradually  be  made  in  such  matters  as  railway 
building,  education,  taxation,  and  finance,  internation- 
ally China  will  remain  an  unwieldy  mass,  unable  to 
throw  her  great  weight  against  any  rival  because  of  her 
enormous  decentralisation,  which  has  to  be  slowly 
amended.  In  other  words,  China  must  long  remain 
totally  unable  to  fight  successfully  against  any  first-class 
Power,  no  matter  how  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
troops  she  may  arm  and  equip. 

It  therefore  seems  more  than  likely  that  the  waging 
of  one  more  successful  war  on  the  part  of  Japan  will 
ensure  for  her  the  real  hegemony  of  Eastern  Asia,  and 
render  the  position  of  all  those  white  Powers  possessing 
important  stakes  beyond  the  Straits  of  Malacca  not 
only  one  of  extreme  embarrassment  but  one  of  open 
peril.  The  whole  outer  problem  for  Japan  is  to  hold 
the  white  Powers  grouped  against  one  another  more 
or  less  as  they  stand  at  present,  whilst  cautiously  she 
tightens  her  hold  on  China. ^     It  is  not  even  necessary 

^  Owing  to  the  methodical  manner  in  which  her  step-by-step 
campaign  of  penetration  and  assimilation  proceeds,  it  is  possible 
to  predict  with  great  exactitude  the  manner  in  which  Japan's  pro- 
gramme on  the  continent  of  Asia  will  be  developed. 

This  is  what  should  happen  during  the  next  few  years.  The 
formal  annexation  of  Korea  and  dethronement  of  the  Korean 
Emperor  —  merely  temporarily  delayed  for  reasons  of  expediency  — 
will  come  during  the  present  term  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  allianc*.. 
This  will  make  Japan  irrevocably  a  continental,  as  well  as  an 
island,  Power:  it  will  therefore  be  proclaimed  suddenly  necessary 
to  safeguard  the  buffer  State  of  Manchuria  more  adequately  than 
is  possible  at  present,  by  securing  greater  administrative  as  well  as 
military  control.  The  first  tentative  steps  have  already  been 
taken  (i)  by  making  all  Japanese  consuls  in  Manchuria  directly 
subject  to  the  Governor-General  of  the  Port  Arthur  Territory  and 
thus  establishing  the  web  of  an  administration;  (2)  by  extending 
policing    rights,    in    the    face    of  most    active    Chinese    opposition. 


n  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  159 

for  her  to  maintain  the  present  political  combination, 
since  by  boldly  abandoning  the  Anglo-Saxon  friendship 
—  that  friendship  which  is  illusory,  because  of  the  white 
communities  of  the  Pacific  who  despise  all  dealings 
with  the  yellow  man  —  and  by  making  a  gradual 
Russian  or  Russo-German  understanding,  she  might  be 
better  suited.  Nothing  then  would  prevent  her  from 
developing  a  new  policy  on  the  southern  frontiers  of 
China,  and  stripping  from  France  her  Indo-Chinese 
Colonies,  as  she  could  most  easily  do  to-day.  The 
Annamese,  the  weakest  of  all  the  yellow  peoples,  are 
yet  beginning  to  show  new  possibilities  in  political 
development;  and  accustomed  as  they  are  to  Chinese 
suzerainty,  Japanese  suzerainty  would  not  be  unwelcome 
to  them   in   place   of   the   present   rule    by   conquest. 

wherever  new  railway  links  go.  This  has  already  been  done  in 
the  case  of  the  new  Yalu  railway;  but  that  is  not  very  important, 
inasmuch  as  South-Eastern  Manchuria,  already  traversed  by 
Japanese  armies,  lies  in  the  hollow  of  Japan's  hand.  What  is  of 
the  highest  political  importance,  however,  is  that  as  soon  as  the 
Changchun-Kirin  railway  in  Central  Manchuria  is  completed  it  will 
be  suddenly  extended  into  Korea,  linking  with  another  Japanese 
railway  there,  and  the  usual  administrative  police  control  enforced. 
The  effect  of  this  will  be  to  draw  a  ruler-line  through  Manchuria 
and  surrender  to  almost  open  Japanese  dominion  all  Manchuria 
south  of  the  Sungari  river.  When  this  is  done  it  will  be  possible 
to  throw  oflF  the  mask,  as  Japan  does  not  contemplate  going 
farther  north  than  this.  Her  strategic  position  on  the  continent 
will  be  so  strong,  that  acting  from  the  three  points  Manchuria, 
Korea,  and  Saghalien  —  she  can  so  menace  Russia  as  to  put  her 
on  the  defensive  in  twenty-four  hours.  Russia  in  the  Far  East  is 
therefore  in  her  hands.  Secure,  therefore,  in  Northern  Asia,  Japan 
will  merely  consolidate  her  position  there,  whilst  she  turns  her  activities 
elsewhere  in  China. 

All  this  will  be  done  before  1915  —  Japan's  future  conduct  being 
regulated  by  the  developments  which  may  come  subsequent  to  the 
expiry  of  the  present  term  of  the  British  alliance. 


160      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Once  Japan  menaced  China  both  from  the  north  and 
the  south,  the  statesmen  of  Peking  might  be  forced  to 
make  some  hard  and  fast  arrangement  which  would 
place  their  growing  armed  strength  at  the  disposal  of 
Tokyo,  to  save  them  from  worse  reprisals.  For  it  is 
an  unfortunate  fact  that  Eastern  peoples  are  largely 
indifferent  to  outer  political  problems  so  long  as  it  is 
not  a  question  of  interfering  with  their  daily  food,  and 
so  long  as  a  loss  of  power  does  not  present  itself  to 
their  eyes  in  some  tangible  form  —  such  as  an  armed 
occupation.  They  are  therefore  content  to  leave  the 
supreme  direction  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  who  are  thus 
able  to  dispose  of  the  destinies  of  the  many  by  doing 
what  may  seem  temporarily  expedient,  but  which  is 
really  criminal.  Japan's  star  will  guide  her  and  tell 
her  when  to  act;  and  when  she  does  act  —  if  things  are 
left  as  they  are  at  present  —  she  will  be  as  successful  as 
people  always  are  who  leave  nothing  to  chance. 

Now,  inasmuch  as  the  pronouncement  which  has  just 
been  made  in  regard  to  China's  foreign  poHcy  may  be 
misunderstood,  it  is  necessary  lo  be  more  explicit.  In 
brief,  we  have  to  show  how  in  the  case  of  China,  Japan, 
who  is  the  present  enemy,  can  really  be  metamorphosed, 
through  European  indifference,  into  Japan,  the  friend. 
We  have  already  said  that  the  millions  of  China  are 
content  to  leave  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  men,  so  long  as  provincial  interests  — 
that  is,  interests  connected  with  the  daily  lives  of  the 
millions  —  are  not  directly  touched. 

As  is  well  known,  the  government  of  China  embodies 
in  a  very  pronounced  and  successful  form  that  strange 
theocratic  principle  which,  while  it  has  been  often 
attempted    in    Europe,    has    never    been    anything   in 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  161 

practice  but  an  attempt.  To  the  matter-of-fact  and 
unimaginative  European  mind,  the  divine  right  of 
kings  has  always  been  something  of  an  absurdity,  in 
spite  of  the  vigorous  efforts  w^hich  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  in  various  countries  to  proclaim  and 
enforce  it.  Not  so  in  China,  or  in  Japan,  w^here,  of 
course,  it  is  only  the  Chinese  model  which  has  been 
copied.  In  China  the  Emperor  has  always  been,  in  a 
very  strict  sense,  the  High  Priest  of  the  nation ;  living 
in  seclusion;  with  five  thousand  years  of  reputed 
authority  behind  him;  worshipping  at  the  altars  of 
Heaven  as  the  proclaimed  intermediary  between  the 
unseen  powers  and  his  innumerable  subjects;  and  obeyed 
not  by  virtue  of  his  armed  forces  but  by  virtue  of  his 
virtue.  The  numberless  revolutions  and  rebellions  of 
which  Chinese  history  is  full  are  all,  from  the  Eastern 
point  of  view,  exactly  similar  to  the  Satsuma  Rebellion 
in  Japan,  which  occurred  exactly  one  generation  ago 
(1877);  they  were  all  revolts  against  bad  advisers,  but 
not  against  the  constituted  imperial  authority,  which  is 
always  sacrosanct.  By  one  of  those  ingenious  fictions, 
which  are  the  delight  of  the  human  mind  when  con- 
fronted by  an  insurmountable  difficulty,  to  destroy  an 
emperor  in  China  is  not  to  destroy  his  authority,  which 
simply  passes  like  a  cloak  from  his  shoulders  to  the 
shoulders  of  a  more  vigorous  successor.  The  authority 
of  the  emporors  is  never  weakened  even  by  such  violent 
acts. 

The  present  dynasty  in  China  is  not  so  much  a 
dynasty  of  usurpers,  as  a  dynasty  sprung  from  a  small 
nation  of  conquerors  who  fought  their  way  from 
Manchuria  to  Peking,  and  who  succeeded  in  imposing 
their  rule  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  China  only 

M 


162      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

after  a  century  of  intermittent  warfare.  To-day  it  is  very 
important  to  note  this  fact:  —  that  from  the  moment 
Nurhachu,  the  original  founder  of  the  Manchu  Empire 
in  Manchuria/  began  his  contest  with  the  Ming  sov- 
ereigns of  China,  to  the  time  when  all  China  openly 
acknowledged  the  Manchu  sway,  nearly  a  century  was 
consumed. 

The  Manchu  race,  when  they  conquered  China,  were 
under  no  delusions  regarding  the  nature  of  their  prize. 
They  knew  that,  as  in  the  case  of  most  political 
conquests  in  civilised  times,  their  success  sprang  from 
a  variety  of  causes  besides  their  military  prowess. 
They  therefore  took  steps  to  cement  their  hold  on 
China  both  by  the  threat  of  force  and  by  a  most 
extensive  use  of  the  principle  of  compromise.  On  the 
one  hand  the  Manchu  and  Mongol  hordes  and  their 
Chinese  allies  were  reorganised  into  eight  great 
Banners  or  corps  —  with  Peking  as  their  focal  point  — 
and  strong  garrisons  were  distributed  strategically  over 
the  length  and  breadth  of  China;  on  the  other  hand  the 

^  The  Japanese  have  chosen  an  excellent  means  for  familiaris- 
ing their  troops  with  Manchuria.  The  South  Manchurian  line 
is  guarded  by  a  division  of  field  troops.  Every  year  a  change  in  the 
division  is  made.  Not  long  ago  the  loth  Field  Division  was  with- 
drawn and  the  nth  Division  sent  from  Japan  to  guard  the 
line.  Three  years  after  the  war  the  3rd  Division  appeared  in 
South  Manchuria  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
possible  future  of  the  theatre  of  war.  Such  a  change  of  troops  on 
the  railway  has  an  enormous  educative  significance.  The  troops 
familiarise  themselves  with  the  locality,  the  climatic  conditions, 
the  language,  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants. 
All  this  is  obtained  gratuitously  and  does  not  infringe  the  inter- 
national treaties;  whilst,  finally,  the  idea  becomes  generally 
accepted  among  a  population  knowing  little  of  foreign  affairs, 
that  the  destinies  of  Manchuria  and  Japan  are  inextricably  mixed. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  163 

new  Manchu  dynasty  reinstated  all  Chinese  civil  officials, 
and  thus  left  the  ancient  system  of  government  —  save 
for  a  few  necessary  modifications  —  entirely  untouched. 
What  was  therefore  done  which  was  different  from 
anything  which  had  been  done  before  in  China,  was  to 
superimpose  on  the  old  civil  system  a  fully-organised 
military  system  which  directly  represented  the  new 
authority   of  the  Throne. 

Until  the  nineteenth  century  was  well  advanced  — 
that  is,  during  a  period  of  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  —  this  new  dual  system  worked  well  enough. 
The  Chinese,  with  their  vast  knowledge  of  the  weak- 
nesses of  human  nature  —  a  knowledge  as  great  as  that 
displayed  in  mediaeval  times  by  Macchiavelli,  who  lived 
under  precisely  the  same  political  conditions  —  were  able, 
by  pandering  to  the  purely  human  side  of  the  Manchus, 
to  regain  much  of  the  substance,  whilst  to  their  nominal 
masters  was  left  the  very  complete  shadow,  of  power. 
But  no  sooner  had  a  new  factor  —  the  external  or  foreign 
factor  —  begun  to  exercise  much  influence,  than  the 
great  decay  which  five  generations  of  dominion  had 
already  brought  about  became  very  evident.  The 
Manchus,  confronted  like  the  Japanese  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  with  a  force  which  they  despised  and 
yet  feared,  made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  to  maintain 
the  policy  of  splendid  isolation  which  had  stood  them 
in  such  good  stead  —  knowing  well  that  the  splendour 
sprang  from  the  isolation  and  nothing  else. 

But  their  efforts  were  unavailing.  Gradually  but 
irresistibly  the  foreign  factor  became  more  and  more 
important,  as  every  armed  collision  showed  its  inherent 
strength.  Passionate  resistance  and  subtle  diplomacy 
were  alike  useless ;   and  so  with  the  grand  climax  of  the 


164      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Boxer  year  —  occurring  most  appropriately  in  the  very 
last  year  of  the  nineteenth  century  —  it  became  clear 
that  in  the  twentieth  century  some  new  ausgleich  would 
have  to  be  arranged  between  the  people  of  China  and 
the  Manchu  sovereigns  and  their  supporting  clans  —  if 
the  semblance  of  an  undivided  empire  was  to  be 
maintained. 

Now,  since  all  Eastern  precedents  and  procedures  had 
long  been  exhausted,  since  no  formula  could  be  devised 
to  meet  the  situation,  there  was  but  one  thing  to  do; 
to  turn  to  the  West,  and  to  borrow  from  the  West 
forms  so  well-tested  by  time  that  their  very  adoption 
would  give  to  China  a  secular  Palladium  impervious  to 
the  rudest  onslaughts.  The  coming  of  constitutional 
or  parliamentary  government  in  China  was  proclaimed 
by  the  late  Empress-Dowager,  and  as  a  first  step  the 
organisation  of  Provincial  Assemblies,  designed  to  give 
organic  unity  to  each  province,  was  soon  proceeded  with. 
Already  these  bodies  have  met  in  each  provincial  capital 
and  have  debated  the  questions  of  the  hour  with  much 
commonsense  and  skill.  With  constitutional  govern- 
ment and  provincial  decentralisation  no  longer  vague 
possibilities,  but  practical  certainties,  it  has  been  too 
confidently  expected  by  the  Court  of  Peking  that  all 
outer  difficulties  would  infallibly  be  smoothed  away. 
That  something  more  than  mere  socio-political  reform 
is  necessary  to  regain  the  ground  lost  by  decades  of 
indifference  is,  however,  amply  clear  to  impartial 
observers.  The  network  of  hampering  treaties  and 
protocols,  with  their  accompanying  indemnities,  indeed 
so  enmeshes  modern  China,  that  without  active  support 
from  the  interested  Powers  it  is  physically  impossible 
for  this  great  country  to  dream  of  standing  erect,  and 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  165 

proudly  resuming  the  position  to  which  the  genius  of 
the  people  entitles  her.^ 

But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  respect  in  which 
the  present  dynasty  is  held  in  China  varies  greatly 
geographically.  It  may  be  said,  roughly,  that  the 
respect  is  at  its  maximum  in  Moukden,  where  the 
dynasty  had  its  rise,  and  at  its  minimum  in  Canton, 
which  was  the  last  capital  to  surrender  to  the  conquerors 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  That  is  to  say,  the  respect 
is  high  in  the  north  and  low  in  the  south.  But  this  by 
no  means  covers  the  whole  case.  The  respect  is  high 
in  the  more  northerly  latitudes  of  the  Chinese  Empire 
proper  (that  is,  excluding  for  the  moment  so-called 
colonial  dominions  such  as  Mongolia,  Turkestan  and 
Tibet),  because  this  Northern  Chinese  population  has 
long  been  associated  with  conquerors  having  a  mixed 
Turanian  origin,  and  is  therefore  more  in  sympathy  with 

^  This  argument  is  not  as  illogical  as  it  may  seem  to  those  who 
do  not  know  the  inner  aspects  of  the  Chinese  imbrogHo.  For  it  may 
be  said,  summarily,  that  the  attempted  Boxer  Revolution  of 
1900  complicated  the  Chinese  polity  to  an  incredible  extent  by  throw- 
ing huge  indemnities  on  the  country,  whilst  in  the  decade  which 
has  since  elapsed  no  concerted  attempt  has  been  made  by  the 
Powers,  who  thus  penalised  a  weak  government  for  weak  com- 
plicity, to  widen  the  foundations  of  the  authority  of  the  cen- 
tral government  —  and  thus  to  erect  a  safeguard  against  not 
only  internal  disorder  but  external  complications.  That  authority 
can  only  be  widened  by  giving  to  China  the  power  of  levying 
increased  revenues,  and  those  increased  revenues  can  only  be  found 
in  indirect  taxation  —  i.e.,  by  an  increase  in  the  Customs  Tariff.  The 
series  of  treaties  signed  by  some  of  the  Powers,  notably  by 
England,  America  and  Japan,  known  as  the  Shanghai  Treaties, 
actually  provided  for  such  an  increase;  but  these  treaties  remain 
dead  letters  until  identical  instruments  have  been  signed  by  all  the 
Powers.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  direct  inaction  of  Europe  in  China 
to  which  may  be  attributed  much  of  the  present  grave  menace  in 
Eastern  Asia. 


166      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

men  who,  springing  from  approximately  the  same 
cHmatic  zone,  have  the  same  outlook  on  life.  But  even 
in  Peking  it  is  a  noticeable  fact,  owing  to  the  necessary 
narrow  nationalism,  that  there  is  much  jealousy  between 
Manchus  and  Chinese,  largely  because  the  former  clans 
still  form  a  favoured  subnationality,  enjoying  special 
privileges  and  emoluments  in  all  walks  of  Hfe. 
Though  numberless  edicts  have  of  recent  years  sought 
nominally  to  abolish  the  distinction  between  the  ordinary 
Manchu  and  the  ordinary  Chinese,  all  Bannermen  or 
clansmen  still  draw  their  monthly  allowances  in  silver 
and  rice;  all  are  specially  favoured  in  the  matter  of 
official  employment;  and  the  Manchu  princes  and 
Imperial  clansmen,  of  whom  there  are  many  thousands, 
are  landowners  on  a  very  large  scale,  and  occupy  indeed 
a  position  more  irritating  to  the  proletariat  than  the 
land-owning  peers  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

This  land-owning  on  a  large  scale,  it  is  true,  embraces 
only  Northern  China;  but  where  it  ceases  another 
irritation  takes  its  place.  The  rich  Yangtze  valley  was 
laid  under  tribute  by  the  first  Manchu  conquerors  in  a 
very  practical  and  effective  manner — the  granary  of 
China  was  called  upon  to  contribute  regular  yearly 
quotas  of  rice  and  other  grain  sufficient  to  feed  the 
entire  corps  of  the  Manchu  Banners  resident  in  Peking, 
as  well  as  all  their  families  and  dependents,  whilst 
the  Tartar  provincial  garrisons  scattered  over  the 
Empire  were  specially  provided  for  by  a  species  of 
matricular  contributions.  In  addition,  every  district, 
having  special  fame  in  the  production  of  some  luxury 
or  another,  was  burdened  with  an  Imperial  factory,  the 
aim  of  the  Manchus  being  to  provide  for  themselves 
specially,  so  that  they  might  live  —  by  direct  contribution. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  167 

and  not  by  indirect  taxation  —  on  the  best  things  in  the 
great  land  which  they  had  conquered.  Finally,  such  a 
province  as  Kwangtung  province,  with  its  unruly 
provincial  capital  of  Canton,  because  it  was  rich  and 
possessed  a  highly-industrious  and  skilful  population 
has  always  been  more  heavily  taxed  in  proportion  than 
any  other  province;  it  has  always  been  harshly  treated 
and  looked  upon  with  open  suspicion;  and  Cantonese 
officials  have  been  kept  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
highest  offices. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  certain  regions  in  China 
have  direct  causes  of  complaint  against  the  Manchus. 
Thus  the  Manchu  conquest,  although  now  as  old  as  the 
Norman  Conquest  was  in  England  at  the  time  of 
Cre^y  and  Poitiers,  has  not  succeeded  in  effecting  any- 
thing like  that  fusion  of  interests  which  existed  between 
Normans  and  Saxons  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Prince. 

Nor  does  all  this  take  into  account  the  very  peculiar 
regionalism  which  exists  in  China,  and  which  is  some- 
thing more  than  the  mere  "provincial  feeling"  of 
which  so  much  is  written.  Regionalism  is  carried  to 
such  lengths  in  South  China  —  especially  in  Kwangtung 
province  —  that  there  villages  are  linked  into  clans, 
which  are  again  subdivided  against  themselves  into 
"family-names";  and  the  latter  have  preserved  from 
ancient  times  the  right  of  private  war  against  one 
another,  which  the  territorial  officials  are  to-day  still 
powerless  to  arrest.  Thus  whilst  the  whole  population 
of  China  is  united  in  its  theocratic  beliefs;  in  its  love  of 
the  family  life  and  family  system;  in  its  ethics,  customs 
and  precedents;  in  its  dress  and  its  symbols  —  that  is  to 
say,  whilst  in  one  sense  nationality  has  never  been 
better    defined    than    it    is    in    China,   the   feeling   of 


168      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

nationality  is  no  more  advanced  than  it  was  in  Europe 
in  the  middle  ages,  when  love  of  district  or  town  —  or  at 
most  province  —  took  the  place  of  the  present  feeling  of 
race. 

In  these  circumstances  the  peculiarity  of  the  general 
problem  of  Eastern  Asia  becomes  more  than  striking  — 
it  is  unparalleled  in  the  unique  diversity  of  its  com- 
ponent factors. 

For  what  can  the  Manchu  regime  really  oppose  to 
this  remarkable  regionalism  in  China .?  Simply  a 
prestige  which  is  always  careful  to  avail  itself  very 
bounteously  of  the  principle  of  compromise,  and  the 
exercise  of  a  remarkable  political  instinct.  The  hand- 
ful of  Manchus  in  Peking  —  the  Manchu  population  in 
and  around  the  capital  is  certainly  under  one  million 
persons  —  fills  a  very  large  number  of  metropolitan 
posts;  dominates  the  Grand  Council;  and  is  careful  to 
send  to  the  provinces  not  only  the  so-called  Tartar 
Generals  (who  command  Manchu  provincial  garrisons 
and  rank  with  Viceroys)  but  a  large  proportion  of  other 
high  functionaries.  The  highest  Chinese  officials,  be 
they  Grand  Councillors,  Grand  Secretaries,  or  Viceroys, 
know  not  only  that  it  is  bad  policy  to  oppose  measures 
espoused  by  the  Manchu  party,  but  that  such  opposition 
at  once  marks  their  downfall.  Manchu  rings  exist  in 
Peking,  both  in  the  Palace  and  outside  the  Palace, 
which  are  largely  dominated  not  only  by  Princes  of  the 
reigning  House,  but  by  the  "Iron-capped"  Princes 
and  other  high  personages;  whilst  another  important 
factor  is  the  influence  of  the  consorts  of  defunct 
sovereigns,  all  of  whom  are  immured  in  the  Forbidden 
City.  So  many  things  have  to  be  considered,  so  many 
parties  conciliated  before  any  action  is  taken,  that  when 


n  THE,  YELLOW  WORLD  169 

action  finally  comes,  it  is  action  which  is  by  no  means 
final,  since  everyone  believes  that  it  may  be  indefi- 
nitely postponed  by  astute  lobbying.  There  are  those 
who  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  success  of  much  of 
the  recent  Japanese  diplomacy  is  due  primarily  to 
their  appreciation  of  the  old  political  principle  of 
corruption. 

Now  the  establishment  of  Provincial  Assemblies 
which  do  not,  strictly  speaking,  possess  legislative 
powers,  but  are  merely  deliberative  and  advisory  bodies, 
was  primarily  devised  both  as  a  concession  to  provincial 
feeling  and  to  assist  the  work  of  the  Central  Govern- 
ment in  reorganising  the  disordered  finances  of  the 
country.  It  has  been  deemed  necessary  as  the  fore- 
runner of  so-called  parliamentary  government;  and  as 
a  forerunner  it  has  not  been  unsuccessful.  Yet  the 
financial  part  remains  unsatisfactory.  For  although 
the  Peking  Ministry  of  Finance  has  been  making  very 
real  attempts  to  discover  what  the  revenue  of  China 
really  is,  and  to  draft  a  Budget,  scant  success  has  so  far 
crowned  these  efforts.  It  is  to-day  very  generally 
recognised  in  China  by  every  class  of  people  that  with- 
out more  money  there  can  be  no  really  effective  army 
or  navy,  and  no  improvement  of  the  general  internal 
or  international  condition.  The  Provincial  Assemblies, 
by  carrying  through  provincial  schemes  of  taxation,  and 
by  making  their  own  independent  estimates,  may  be 
able  to  check  the  illegal  levies  of  territorial  officials, 
and  may  possibly  secure  a  general  and  regular  audit  of 
accounts.  They  should  thus  be  of  material  assistance 
to  the  Central  Government  at  Peking.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  each  body  will  have  its  own  ideas;  each 
will    instinctively    oppose    Viceroys    and    Governors, 


170      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

because  they  represent  a  different  principle;  each  will 
strive  for  more  power.  And  since,  in  strict  conformity 
with  that  principle  of  equipoise  which  runs  all  through 
the  government  of  China,  provinces  are  linked  together 
in  nearly  every  case  in  pairs  under  a  single  Viceroy  — 
so  that  he  may  be  able  to  throw  the  weight  of  one 
province  against  the  other  —  it  will  need  very  few 
complications  to  make  the  confusion  worse  confounded. 
And  if  the  plan  of  summoning  a  general  Parliament  in 
191 7  is  carried  through,  there  will  be  yet  one  more 
discordant  element  added  to  the  existing  ones. 

For  at  bottom,  the  Manchu  House,  like  the  House 
of  Romanoff,  must  from  its  nature  be  intolerant  of  a 
reform  that  weakens  and  finally  extinguishes  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  The  democratic  character  of  the 
Chinese  people  will  never  tolerate  a  mock  constitution 
such  as  the  Japanese  constitution,  which  has  brought 
into  being  a  pliant  and  corrupt  Diet,  the  perfunctory 
sessions  of  which  are  simply  attended  by  the  members 
to  endorse  measures  which  they  are  neither  willing  nor 
powerful  enough  to  oppose.  And  since  the  Chinese 
people  are  so  radically  different  from  the  Japanese 
people,  they  will  never  be  afraid  to  rise  in  tumultuous 
masses  against  their  rulers,  thus  further  weakening 
China  internationally,  and  preparing  developments 
which  all  instinctively  dread. 

This  long  digression  into  the  real  condition  of  China 
should  establish  clearly  not  only  (i)  that  the  country  is 
not  ripe  for  adopting  that  secular  policy  which  alone 
secures  the  safety  of  a  State  when  menaced  from  abroad 
—  the  policy  which  flows  naturally  from  a  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  force  and  a  capacity  of  enforcing  it ;  but  (2) 
that  no  matter  how  many  divisions  of  land  troops  China 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  171 

may  succeed  in  organising  and  arming  during  the  next 
decade  or  two,  and  no  matter  how  many  units  of  a  coast- 
guard fleet  she  may  slowly  assemble  at  strategic  points 
along  her  two  thousand  miles  of  vulnerability,  the 
adoption  of  such  a  secular  policy  would  be  the  very 
measure  which  Japan  would  welcome  as  an  invitation  to 
intervene. 

For  Japan,  with  her  powerful  battle-fleet  to  insure 
the  safety  of  her  transports,  can  concentrate  her  strength 
rapidly  wherever  she  wills  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  is  thus 
in  a  position  to  dominate  not  only  South  Manchuria,  as 
she  does  to-day,  but  any  part  of  China  which  may  be 
easily  attacked  by  naval  landings. 

The  eff^ect  of  such  strategy  would  be  immediate  and 
dramatic.  As  in  olden  days,  provinces  would  care  for 
their  own  safety  before  caring  for  the  safety  of  Peking  and 
the  dynasty;  and  once  more  it  would  be  amply  demon- 
strated that  the  theocratic  idea,  even  when  tinctured 
with  Western  constitutionalism,  is  no  secular  safeguard. 
To  give  real  political  unity  to  China;  to  allow  China  to 
become  a  Power  in  the  European  sense  of  the  word, 
requires  other  measures  than  those  which  are  now  being 
tentatively  essayed.  And  the  first  condition  which 
must  be  attained  is  that  China  shall  find  a  real  master  — 
a  man  of  iron,  who  from  his  very  nature  will  know  how 
to  weld  together  the  latent  strength  of  a  vast  democracy 
and  make  it  as  of  steel.  Until  that  man  can  be  found, 
China's  only  hope  lies  without  —  that  is,  in  the  inter- 
national leverage  she  can  exert  by  the  employment  of 
astute  diplomacy.  It  is  the  Powers  —  the  white  Powers 
—  who  alone  can  save  her;  not  because  of  any  high 
altruistic  motives  on  their  part,  but  for  reasons  of 
expediency.     No  man  of  commonsense  can  doubt  that 


172      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

a  further  Japanese  advance  and  a  further  Chinese  decline 
would  be  an  international  calamity. 


Now  it  is  certain  that,  looking  at  matters  broadly,  the 
one  white  Power  which  during  the  first  term  of  the 
present  century  will  act  as  the  greatest  restraint  on  Japan 
will  not  be  England,  the  friend,  or  even  Russia,  the  old 
enemy  —  it  will  be  the  United  States.  The  completion 
of  the  Panama  Canal  is  destined  to  have  the  most  far- 
reaching  results  on  the  future  progress  of  the  world,  and 
especially  on  the  progress  of  the  Pacific;  but  the  actual 
role  which  the  United  States  shall  play  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Eastern  Asia,  in  spite  of  many  prognostications, 
must  for  a  long  interval  remain  totally  undecided.  And, 
as  this  opinion  may  seem  to  clash  with  many  ideas  which 
have  recently  grown  up,  it  becomes  necessary  here  to 
make  certain  explanatory  comments. 

Three  facts  in  regard  to  the  United  States  have  long 
been  amply  clear  to  all  students  of  those  cognate 
subjects,  politics,  statistics,  and  geography. 

The  first  and  most  important  is  that  the  Pacific 
Ocean  is  really  far  too  vast  an  ocean  to  be  dominated 
by  any  Power,  or  any  combination  of  Powers,  acting 
from  the  coasts  of  North  America.^     Just  as  English 

^  With  regard  to  this  grave  question  —  the  geographical  position 
of  the  United  States  —  it  is  singularly  unfortunate  that  only  in  such 
monumental  works  as  Captain  Mahan's  The  Influence  of  Sea 
Power  upon  History,  are  the  true  facts  properly  exhibited.  This 
great  American  authority  is  never  weary  of  telling  his  coun- 
trymen of  the  present  immense  maritime  weakness  of  the  United 
States.  Such  phrases  as  these  abound  in  the  work  named : 
"The  position  of  the  United  States  upon  the  two  oceans  would  be 
a    source    of  great    weakness    or    a    cause    of   enormous    expense, 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  173 

naval  experts  know  that  the  United  States  cannot  wage 
a  naval  war  in  European  waters  against  England,  owing 
to  the  distance  which  separates  American  naval  bases 
from  attackable  points  —  3,000  miles  —  so  should  it 
to-day  be  as  generally  known  that  it  is  virtually  a  naval 
impossibility  to  protect  the  Philippines  or  to  menace 
Japan  by  using  America  as  a  base.  The  PhiHppines 
are  over  7,000  miles  away  from  American  waters,  Japan 
5,000  miles.  Even  the  conversion  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  into  naval  points  d'appuis  only  reduces  these 
vast  distances  by  some  2,000  miles.  So  far  as  the 
present  maritime  (naval)  problem  in  Eastern  Asia  is 
concerned,  America  then  is  a  negligible  quantity,  save 
within  the  steaming-radius  of  the  Hawaii  to  San 
Francisco  naval  bases,  unless  she  undertakes  to  make  a 
second  Vladivostock  in  some  land-locked   harbour  of 

had  it  a  large  commerce  on  both  coasts."  ...  "If  a  Central 
American  Canal  be  made  and  fulfil  the  hopes  of  its  builders,  the 
Caribbean  will  be  changed  from  a  terminus  .  .  .  into  one  of  the 
great  highways  of  the  world.  Along  this  path  a  great  commerce 
will  travel,  bringing  the  interest  of  the  other  great  nations,  the  Eu- 
ropean nations,  close  along  our  shores,  as  they  have  never  been 
before.  With  this  it  will  not  be  so  easy  as  heretofore  to  stand 
aloof  from  international  complications."  .  .  .  "The  United 
States  has  not  that  shield  of  defensive  strength  behind  which  time 
can  be  gained  to  develop  its  reserve  of  strength.  As  for  a 
seafaring  population  adequate  to  her  possible  needs,  where  is 
it?" 

Though  the  twenty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  these 
passages  were  written  have  brought  changes  in  some  sense 
beneficial  to  America,  two  new  factors  have  entered  into  the 
problem  which  more  than  offset  the  advantages  which  have  thus 
accrued.  These  two  factors  are,  of  course,  the  possession  of  the 
Philippines  and  the  growth  of  Japan  as  a  World-Power  —  rendering 
the  position  of  the  United  States  as  a  naval  Power  on  the  Pacific 
more  parlous  than  ever. 


174      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

the  Philippines.  And  it  is  just  this  that  her  experts 
have  cautiously  decided  against  doing. 

The  second  vital  fact  —  the  fact  which  duly  impresses 
all  close  observers  —  is  that  at  least  during  the  present 
century  American  energies  will  be  amply  engaged  in 
exploiting  the  astounding  resources  contained  in  a  land 
having  the  great  area  of  three  and  a  half  million  square 
miles  and  capable  of  supporting,  at  a  conservative 
estimate,  six  hundred  million  souls.  From  its  very 
nature,  then,  a  country  such  as  the  United  States,  which 
is  really  not  one  country  but  forty-five  countries  united 
in  brotherly  bonds,  may  well  be  temporarily  excused 
from  vigorous  and  direct  overseas  activities.  It  may 
even  be  excused  from  understanding  the  exact  nature  of 
the  outer  problems  which  lie  across  the  broad  waters 
of  the  Pacific,  when  the  tremendous  nature  of  home- 
problems  is  properly  measured.  For  there  is  work  for 
generations  and  generations,  before  intensive  activities 
need  really  be  supplemented  by  extensive  activities. 
And  even  should  later  a  real  imperialism  burst  into 
flames  in  the  United  States,  it  will  be  far  more  likely 
to  carry  expansion  southward  than  westward.  In  other 
words  South  America  must  inevitably  be  exploited 
more  and  more  by  North  America;  and  though,  for 
sentimental  reasons,  a  vigorous  Asiatic  policy  may 
remain  a  plank  in  every  Presidential  platform  because 
of  the  possession  of  the  Philippines,  it  is  still  possible 
that  some  day  the  Philippines  and  the  necessity  of 
playing  a  role  in  Eastern  Asia  may  actually  be  looked 
upon  as  a  drag  and  a  hindrance,  when  set  against  the 
wondrous  riches  of  South  America. 

The  third  fact  —  which  is  merely  a  reiteration  in  a 
new  form  of  the  second  fact  —  is  that  the  Pacific  is 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  175 

emphatically  the  back-door  to  the  United  States,  because 
the  Atlantic  is  so  emphatically  the  front-door.  It  is 
not  only  the  configuration  of  the  coast,  and  the  great 
barrier  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  are  responsible 
for  this;  history  and  the  call  of  white  man's  blood 
must  always  keep  it  so.  Therefore,  no  matter  how 
much  the  population  living  in  the  States  of  the  Pacific 
slope  may  increase,  the  strength  of  the  American  nation 
will  always  lie  nearer  the  Atlantic  frontage  than  the 
Pacific  frontage;  and  consequently  the  political  distance 
between  extreme  Eastern  Asia  and  extreme  Western 
America  cannot  be  much  diminished.  The  three  facts 
just  dealt  with  are  nothing  less  than  in  the  nature  of 
three  grave  disabilities  to  the  taking  of  any  forceful 
action  in  the  Far  East. 

How  then,  in  these  circumstances,  comes  it  that  the 
writer  still  holds  America  to  be  the  greatest  restraint 
on  Japan  .?  The  answer  is  peculiar  in  that  it  is  illogical. 
It  rests,  indeed,  largely  on  those  curious  things  which 
are  justly  termed  the  imponderables  of  politics. 

The  fact  that  the  United  States  represents  in  the 
popular  mind  the  supreme  expression  of  a  triumphant 
democracy  —  a  free  State  totally  detached  from  all 
European  rivalries  —  is  everywhere  a  very  great  factor 
in  the  movements  of  world-politics,  but  nowhere  more 
so  than  in  the  politics  of  Eastern  Asia,  where  this 
belief  postulates  a  liberty  of  action  such  as  no  other 
predominant  white  Power,  forced  to  give  first  and 
last  attention  to  the  European  situation  and  to  the 
European  balance  of  power,  can  command.  On 
America  the  right  rests  to  pose  as  a  truly  disinterested 
party  in  all  foreign  politics,  and  thus  to  rally 
behind    her    not    only    the    public    opinion    of   other 


176      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

countries,  but  the  active  support  of  a  majority  of 
the  European  Powers.  For  these  Powers,  however 
much  they  may  disregard  all  so-called  moral  and 
ethical  considerations  in  their  own  local  European 
matters,  are  forced,  when  it  comes  to  larger  general 
issues,  on  which  the  limelight  of  the  world's  collective 
sense  of  responsibility  is  turned,  to  act  in  agreement 
with  the  principles  of  the  higher  morality,  and  to  sup- 
port, by  word  if  not  by  deed,  the  call  of  international 
honour. 

Furthermore,  the  United  States,  because  of  her  kin- 
ship with  England,  can  count  in  a  very  marked  way  on 
the  tacit  support  of  those  English  democracies  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  which  some  day  will  inevitably  be 
called  upon  to  play  a  role  no  less  remarkable  than  that 
of  the  United  States.  For  it  is  necessary  to  point  out 
that  Australia,  and  especially  New  Zealand,  are  fast  be- 
coming almost  as  much  American  in  sentiment  as  they 
are  English  in  appearance.  Because  of  their  geographi- 
cal situation,  their  eyes  are  perforce  directed  not  solely 
in  one  direction  but  in  two :  and  where  their  hopes  and 
fears  are  not  realised  by  one  country,  instinctively  they 
must  turn  to  the  other. 

Herein  lies  one  of  those  imponderables  which  are  of 
such  weight  in  the  affairs  of  the  world.  For,  being 
morally  supported  in  this  intangible  manner,  the  Wash- 
ington Government,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is 
strategically  ill-placed  to  dominate  the  entire  Pacific,  can 
yet  almost  venture  to  dominate  it  by  a  sort  of  moral 
force,  having  its  origin  in  the  fact  that  to  check  the  rise 
of  an  unjust  hegemony  in  Eastern  Asia,  it  silently  calls 
into  existence  another  hegemony  based  also  on  colour 
and    blood.     Furthermore,    the    influence    which    this 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  177 

attitude  at  once  exerts  in  China  is  so  marked  that  it  is 
equivalent  to  lessening  by  one-half  the  very  great  diffi- 
culties of  the  general  geographical  situation.  Finally, 
it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  the  immense  and  grow- 
ing wealth  of  the  United  States  —  which  in  any  just 
cause  would  permit  the  expenditure  of  an  untold  num- 
ber of  millions,  without  injury  —  has  such  an  effect  on 
national  imaginations  that  though  the  transmutation  of 
dollars  into  Dreadnoughts  is  no  lightning  alchemist's  act 
but  a  slow  and  laborious  working  of  system,  the  threat 
of  effective  military  action  looms  up  like  some  Gargan- 
tuan spectre,  which  may  be  materialised  into  a  giant  in 
the  flesh  by  the  united  will  of  a  sovereign  people.  The 
completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  accentuate  these 
various  factors,  and  may  be  counted  upon  to  do  for 
America  what  fifty  years  ago  the  cutting  of  the  Suez 
Canal  did  for  England.  Thus  against  three  stern  facts 
can  be  set  three  modifying  imponderables. 

Of  the  four  other  World-Powers  —  England,  Russia, 
Germany  and  France  —  no  single  one  has  anything  like 
the  same  general  liberty  of  action  which  America's  price- 
less geographical  situation  confers  on  her.  Germany 
and  France  are  indeed  of  such  minor  importance 
in  Eastern  Asia  that  they  need  not  be  considered 
in  any  light  save  as  possible  allies  and  supporters  of 
some  given  policy.  Even  Russia,  which  one  day  may 
be  a  supreme  Power,  is  not  only  admittedly  on  the 
defensive  in  the  Far  East  —  the  Japanese  war  having 
crippled  her  for  a  generation  —  but  is  troubled  by  a  new 
complication  which  did  not  exist  six  years  ago  during 
her  conflict  with  Japan. 

Because  she  is  first  and  last  a  land  Power,  Russia's 
European  frontiers  are  more  valuable  to  her  than  her 

N 


178      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Asiatic  frontiers;  and  this  at  last  Japanese  statesmen 
have  fully  and  completely  realised.  It  is  impossible  to 
disguise  any  longer  the  importance  which  the  Austrian 
Government  has  suddenly  assumed  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Japanese  Government;  or  to  hide  the  fact  that  the 
pourparlers  which  have  been  carried  on  in  Vienna  for 
several  years  past,  have  finally  ended  in  the  tacit,  if 
unwritten,  agreement  that  in  certain  eventualities  Japan 
may  be  able  to  count  on  a  very  serious  Austrian  con- 
centration on  Russia's  western  frontiers,  which  will 
effectively  prevent  the  great  massing  of  Russian  troops 
in  the  Far  East  that  the  doubling  of  the  Siberian 
railway  would  theoretically  permit.  In  other  words, 
Japan,  having  stripped  from  Russia  all  possibility  of 
playing  the  role  of  a  sea  Power  in  any  part  of  the  world 
by  her  entire  destruction  of  Russia's  fleets,  is  now 
prepared  to  meet  her  as  a  purely  land  Power,  and  to 
check  her  land-hunger  forcibly  by  securing  that  any 
serious  Russian  movement  in  the  Far  East  will  produce 
a  reflex  action  of  the  most  redoubtable  kind  in  the  Far 
West.  So  long  as  Japan  can  arrange  that  Russia's 
traditional  foe  in  the  Balkans  —  Austria  —  is  prepared 
to  regard  any  oflFensive  Russian  movement  as  part  of  a 
general  policy  which  might  gravely  aff"ect  the  general 
balance  of  power  in  the  Near  East,  she  is  safe  from  any 
war  of  revanche^  and  safe  even  from  any  Russian  inter- 
ruption, no  matter  what  her  own  policy  in  China  may 
be.  No  better  tribute  than  this  could  be  paid  to  the 
far-sightedness  of  the  statesmen  of  Tokyo. 

This  development,  then,  highly  significant  in  itself, 
becomes  even  more  significant  when  considered  in 
relation  to  those  other  factors  which  have  already  been 
analysed.     For  the   situation   virtually  comes  to   this: 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  179 

that  since  neither  Germany,  nor  France,  nor  yet  Russia, 
are  for  the  time  being  independent  Powers  in  Asia,  no 
barrier  exists  to  hinder  the  execution  of  the  widest 
ambitions  of  Japan  in  Eastern  Asia,  except  the 
barrier  formed  by  the  EngHsh-speaking  world  of  sea- 
peoples.  This  is  so  very  remarkable,  in  view  of  the 
part  which  Anglo-Saxondom  has  consistently  played 
towards  Japan  in  the  past,  that  it  should  be  most 
seriously  and  deeply  pondered  over. 

For  from  this  proposition  naturally  flows  another 
proposition :  that  the  English-speaking  peoples  may 
one  day  have  to  secure  the  position  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Pacific  by  combining  their  newly- 
formed  naval  strength  on  the  Pacific,  or  they  will  cease 
to  be  a  factor  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  their  destinies  else- 
where be  most  seriously  affected  in  consequence. 

For  it  must  be  accepted  as  something  very  definite 
in  the  sphere  of  practical  politics  that  Japan  will  have 
to  declare  her  hand  against  China  before  1923  —  the 
year  when  the  lease  of  the  Port  Arthur  territory  expires, 
and  the  whole  Manchurian  position  begins  theoretically 
to  return  to  what  it  once  was.  If  China  is  forced, 
owing  to  the  short-sighted  diplomacy  of  those  for  whom 
the  question  has  really  supreme  importance,  to  make 
common  cause  with  Japan  as  a  pis  allery  then  it  may  be 
accepted  as  inevitable  that  in  the  course  of  time  there 
will  be  created  a  mare  clausum,  which  will  extend  from 
the  island  of  Saghalien  down  to  Cochin-China  and 
Siam,  including  all  the  island  groups,  and  the  shores  of 
which  will  be  openly  hostile  to  the  white  man.  The 
world  of  Eastern  Asia,  with  its  vast  population  of  600 
millions  of  men,  should  it  ever  be  effectively  controlled 
from  one  centre,  Tokyo,  may  be  counted  on  deliberately 


180      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

to  impose  the  same  restrictions  on  the  white  man  as 
the  white  man  is  beginning  to  impose  on  the  yellow 
man  wherever  there  is  danger  of  close  contact.  That 
must  be  accepted  as  something  absolute.  And  since 
there  will  be  no  danger  from  the  competition  of  white 
workmen,  but  rather  from  the  white  man's  ships,  the 
white's  man  merchants,  his  inventions,  his  produce  —  it 
will  be  these  which  will  be  subjected  to  humiliating 
conditions,  in  order  to  restore  to  the  Far  East  that 
old-time  self-sufficiency  which  the  white  man's  cannon 
blew  away  in  the  nineteenth  century.  This  is,  alas, 
no  idle  dream :  it  is  the  definite  and  ambitious  goal  of 
a  far-seeing  and  ambitious  nation.  The  pernicious 
doctrine  of  Protection  having  given  to  all  modern 
States  a  pseudo-scientific  weapon  with  which  to  deal  with 
their  competitors  as  tyranically  as  the  masters  of  the  old 
world  did  with  weapons  of  war,  it  is  not  a  very  far  cry 
from  tariflPs  on  goods  to  tariffs  and  restrictions  on 
foreign  shipping,  on  foreign  merchants,  on  everything 
foreign  —  restrictions  which  by  imposing  vast  and 
unequal  burdens  on  the  activities  of  aliens  will  soon 
totally  destroy  such  activities.  Great,  indeed,  is  the 
power  of  that  principle,  which  to  be  rightly  called  is 
not  protection  but  destruction. 

With  one  last  word  we  have  done.  It  is  one  of  the 
great  political  misfortunes  of  the  day  that  numbers  of 
people,  who  really  know  nothing  about  the  question, 
are  constantly  prophesying  one  of  two  evils  in  regard 
to  this  pregnant  yellow  world  —  either  that  a  great 
yellow  horde  will  one  day  sweep  across  Asia  and 
inundate  Europe;  or  that  the  yellow  man  will  finally 
swamp  the  markets  of  the  world  with  his  cheap 
products,  and  thus  bring  in  another  way  the  same  ruin 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  181 

to  all.  Neither  of  these  two  things  can  ever  come 
about;  they  are  merely  the  dreams  of  those  who  will 
never  understand  involved  issues.  But  what  can  very 
easily  happen  is  that  the  federation  of  Eastern  Asia 
and  the  yellow  races  will  be  finally  arranged  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  exclude  the  white  man  and  his  commerce 
more  completely  than  anyone  yet  dreams  of.  This  is 
equivalent  to  saying  that  the  entire  economic  situation 
throughout  the  world  is  already  in  very  real  danger  of 
being  radically  altered  —  and  the  present  balance  of 
power  entirely  upset  —  from  the  mere  fact  that  Eastern 
Asia,  led  by  Japan,  may  step  by  step  erect  barriers  so 
as  not  only  to  restrain  the  white  man,  but  to  adopt  a 
politico-commercial  retaliatory  policy  of  the  severest 
character.  This  is  the  policy  which  Japan  has  already 
instituted  in  Formosa  and  Korea  with  such  conspicuous 
success;  this  is  the  policy  which  she  is  beginning  to 
carry  out  in  hidden  ways  in  Southern  Manchuria.  It 
is  a  hard  and  dangerous  policy  to  fight,  for  it  expresses 
itself  in  such  pseudo-European  terms  as  tariffs,  police, 
preferential  treatment,  shipping  and  industrial  monopo- 
lies, and  many  other  ingenious  devices  which  are  covered 
by  a  specious  phraseology  borrowed  from  the  West 
and  invented  by  the  West. 

There  is  one  means  of  combating  this.  That  means 
lies  in  having  it  henceforth  accepted  as  a  general 
political  maxim  among  all  the  Powers  not  only  that 
China's  complete  independence  must  be  secured,  but 
that  China  must  ultimately  be  made  stronger  than 
Japan. ^     Ever  since  the  dawn  of  history  in  the  Far  East 

^  Lest  the  reader  imagines  that  such  suggestions  are  merely 
Utopian  and  impossible  of  realisation,  it  may  be  affirmed  in  abso- 
lute terms  that  if  only  the  same  fiscal  consideration  was  shown  to 


182      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR          ch. 

China  has  been  the  dominant  Power.  Ever  since  the 
dawn  of  history  she  has  used  that  power  over  tributary 
States  not  unfairly  or  harshly.  But  ever  since  Japan 
has  taken  her  place  there  has  been  nothing  but  compli- 
cation following  complication,  until  it  has  become 
absolutely  essential  to  secure  a  return  to  political 
conditions  which  lie  rooted  in  what  is  sound  because  it 
is  natural.     The  goal  of  "China  stronger  than  Japan" 

China  as  is  shown  to-day  to  Turkey  for  the  most  sordid  po- 
litical reasons,  in  a  very  few  years  China  would  be  a  vastly 
different  country  internationally.  Whereas  in  Turkey,  in  order  to 
give  effect  to  the  so-called  kilometric  guarantees  in  the  new  rail- 
way building  programme,  customs  duties  are  to  be  increased,  in 
China  the  old  5  per  cent,  tariff  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  —  drawn 
up  more  than  half  a  century  ago  —  is  still  insisted  on  by  the 
Powers.  Though  she  was  the  first  to  agree  by  negotiation  to  a  change 
to  a  12^  per  cent,  tariff,  for  obscure  reasons  England  has  left 
the  Mackay  Treaty  a  complete  dead-letter  for  eight  years,  an-1  in 
1909  actually  opposed  China's  demand  for  a  general  Treaty- 
Power  Conference  to  deal  with  this  and  other  matters.  Similarly 
in  the  matter  of  the  crushing  Boxer  Indemnities  of  1900  —  amount- 
ing to  ^^65,000,000  sterling,  but  actually,  owing  to  an  archaic  sinking 
fund  system,  calling  for  a  net  payment  of  over  j^200,ooo,ooo  in  39 
years  —  China  is  being  deliberately  crippled,  and  not  only  her  pur- 
chasing power  greatly  curtailed  but  her  power  of  regeneration  most 
seriously  interfered  with.  Commonsense  alone  should  suggest 
that  a  consolidation  of  all  Chinese  indebtedness  to  Europe,  and  a 
generous  treatment,  would  be  the  cheapest  form  of  avoiding  fresh 
liabilities  to  Eastern  Asia.  But,  save  for  the  United  States,  which 
has  remitted  some  of  the  Boxer  indemnity,  no  attempt  has  been  made 
to  ameliorate  Chinese  finance  in  ways  that  are  perfectly  plain,  easy 
and  legitimate.  This  folly  is  nothing  short  of  a  direct  invitation  to 
the  forces  of  disorder  to  mass  and  strike.  British  Liberalism,  before 
it  is  too  late,  would  do  well  to  inquire  closely  into  these  matters,  so  as 
to  realise  finally  how  true  British  interests  have  been  betrayed  and  the 
insolubility  of  the  Asiatic  problem  increased  —  at  a  time  when  the 
utmost  care  should  have  been  lavished  upon  creating  real  international 
safeguards. 


II  THE  YELLOW  WORLD  183 

should  be  kept  in  sight;  expediency  demands  that  that 
goal  be  now  approached.  For,  if  it  is  not,  the  writer 
ventures  to  prophesy  that  in  less  than  two  decades 
America  will  cease  to  own  the  Philippines,  and  Japan 
will  obtain  the  acknowledged  hegemony  of  the  Yellow 
World. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    BROWN    WORLD    OF    THE    MIDDLE    EAST   AND    THE 
NEAR  EAST 

The  problem  of  the  Middle  East  and  the  Near  East  is 
from  every  point  of  view  very  different  indeed  from  the 
distant  problem  of  Eastern  Asia  which  has  just  been 
considered.  This  second  great  problem  includes  India, 
Afghanistan,  Persia,  Arabistan,  Asia  Minor,  and  last, 
but  not  least,  Egypt/  It  possesses  such  peculiar  histori- 
cal interest  that  merely  to  mention  it  brings  uppermost  in 

^  The  whole  question  of  the  Middle  East  and  the  Near  East  is 
far  too  tangled  to  be  intelligibly  discussed  in  a  few  pages,  and 
the  writer  therefore  begs  for  the  indulgence  of  his  readers.  The 
immense  region  stretching  from  the  Hindu  Kush  to  Palestine  and 
the  Mediterranean  shores  is  politically  one  region  —  even  more  to- 
day than  it  has  been  in  the  past — in  spite  of  the  amazing  racial  diver- 
sity of  its  inhabitants,  and  in  spite  of  the  divisions  into  which  it  is 
academically  divided.  In  Asia  to-day  there  are  only  two  problems 
—  the  problem  of  the  Far  East,  by  which  is  understood  every 
problem  from  Singapore  to  Kamschatka,  and  the  problem  of  the 
Nearer  East,  by  which  should  be  understood  every  problem  from 
India  to  the  Mediterranean.  But  whereas  on  the  Far  East  there  is 
a  copious  and  accurate  literature  giving  all  possible  information,  on 
the  Nearer  East  there  is  no  good  work  dealing  with  these  problems 
as  one  whole,  and  much  misunderstanding  consequently  exists. 
Some  book  is  urgently  required  which  will  make  good  this 
deficiency. 

184 


CH.  Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  185 

the  minds  of  men  a  hundred  prejudices  which  will  not 
die.  For  this  is  the  region  which  has  always  been  in  the 
popular  mind  "the  East";  this  is  the  region  which  has 
immemorial  associations  with  Europe,  since  for  twenty- 
five  centuries  it  has  been  Europe's  active  rival;  this  is  the 
region  which  long  before  the  white  man  had  dreamed  of 
conquering  the  ocean  —  when  the  open-sea  routes  were 
unknown  —  had  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Europe. 
There  is  thus  in  this  problem  an  entirely  new  set  of 
factors  —  or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say,  an 
entirely  new  marshalling  of  opposing  forces  —  which  are 
in  themselves  so  complex  that  even  the  most  optimistic 
arise  from  their  analysis  in  some  despondency. 

For  whereas  in  the  Further  East,  because  of  the  new 
nationalism  which  has  so  magically  grown  up,  and  also 
(let  us  frankly  confess  it)  because  of  masterful  Japan, 
the  white  man  is  now  willing  to  admit  that  he  must 
abandon  his  territorial  ambitions  and  confine  himself 
strictly  to  trade  and  industry  and  to  preserving  the 
vaguely-defined  prestige  which  he  acquired  in  a  simpler 
age  —  in  India,  in  Central  Asia,  and  in  all  the  regions 
adjacent  to  the  Near  East,  he  still  boldly  remains  a 
conqueror  in  possession  of  vast  stretches  of  valuable 
territory;  a  conqueror  who  has  no  intention  of  lightly 
surrendering  his  conquests,  and  who  indeed  sees  in 
every  attempt  to  modify  the  old  order  of  things  a  most 
hateful  and  unjustifiable  revolt  which  must  at  all  costs 
be  repressed.  This  is  so  absolutely  true  that  no  candid 
person  will  be  inclined  to  dispute  it. 

The  spirit  of  the  Crusaders  may  thus  be  said  still  to 
linger  in  those  latitudes  which,  to  give  geographical 
and  political  cohesion,  are  here  broadly  named  the 
Middle    and    Near    East;    and,    to    use    a    somewhat 


186      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

dangerous  but  illuminating  figure  of  speech,  it  may 
even  be  maintained  that  to-day,  as  of  old,  the  white 
man  and  the  Cross  remain  as  blindly  opposed  to  the 
brown  man  and  Islamism,  Hinduism  and  what  these 
creeds  postulate,  as  the  most  uncompromising  bigot 
could  desire.  The  opposing  forces,  then,  are  ranged 
opposite  one  another,  as  of  yore,  in  battle  array;  and 
though  the  present  and  future  generations  may  not  be 
as  warlike  as  the  valiant  generations  which  have  passed 
away,  still,  even  in  this  era  of  enlightenment,  many  of 
the  same  old  motives  actuate  both  sides,  and  an  ineradi- 
cable suspicion  tinges  their  relations. 

It  is  therefore  only  natural  that  among  Englishmen, 
who  are  of  necessity  far  more  acutely  interested  in  this 
special  problem  than  other  nations  —  because  they  com- 
mand the  Suez  route,  and  are  indeed  the  arbiters  of  the 
Near  and  Middle  East  —  the  newly-kindled  national 
spirit  in  India  and  Egypt  now  expressing  itself  in  various 
ways  should  be  looked  upon  almost  as  a  traitorous 
conspiracy  to  defraud  a  proud  race  of  their  rightful 
inheritance.  These  lands,  in  spite  of  all  political 
fictions,  are  governed  by  right  of  conquest;  they 
represent  much  brave  blood  and  good  treasure  spent  in 
the  past;  their  tenure,  indeed,  is  sanctified  by  a  sort  of 
holy  decree  acquired  by  the  right  of  prescription.  To 
dispute  such  a  decree  is  a  revolt.  Yet,  even  whilst  this 
is  so,  it  has  to  be  noted  that  in  neighbouring  regions, 
such  as  Turkey,  Persia,  and  Afghanistan,  a  certain  easy- 
going political  cynicism,  which  the  British  often  display 
in  foreign  affairs,  permits  the  adoption  of  an  entirely 
different  attitude,  because  in  these  particular  instances 
independence  serves  temporarily  to  adjust  the  balance  of 
power,  and  to  postpone  the    final    day  of  reckoning. 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  187 

Thus  inconsistency  is  to-day  as  remarkable  a  feature  in 
the  treatment  of  the  brown  world  as  it  is  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  yellow  world;  and  here  again,  as  in 
Eastern  Asia,  the  English  race  stands  confessed  as  the 
most  inconsistent  of  all. 

Now,  seeing  that  the  strength  of  a  people  resides 
more  in  their  blind  prejudices  than  in  anything  else  — 
since  prejudices  are  judgments  formed  without  due 
examination,  and  must  therefore  be  the  judgments 
which  the  vast  majority  of  men  form  and  retain  to 
their  death  —  it  should  be  frankly  admitted  that  the 
individual  who  refuses  to  see  things  as  they  still  appear 
to  the  mass  of  his  countrymen,  and  who  simply  argues^ 
academically  on  all  so-called  colour  questions  without 
considering  those  vital  prejudices,  is  not  worthy  of 
being  read.  The  most  important  factor  of  the  day  in 
the  regions  under  discussion  is  the  white  man's  prejudice 
against  new  ideas  —  against  the  very  ideas  his  presence 
has  served  to  inculcate  —  as  well  as  his  firm  determination 
to  hold  tightly  to  what  his  fathers  acquired.  It  may  be 
sad  to  confess,  and  yet  it  is  true,  that  it  is  the  figure  of 
the  ancient  Crusader,  striking  down  with  his  heavy 
mace,  or  great  two-handed  sword,  the  dark  infidel  who 
opposed  his  righteous  progress,  which  is  the  proper  and 
only  figure  to  keep  always  before  one,  even  in  this 
enlightened  twentieth  century,  when  considering  the 
conflict  of  colour  in  the  Near  East  and  Middle  East. 
Too  much  insistence  cannot  be  laid  on  this  fact.  This 
is  still  openly  the  English  ideal,  no  matter  what  may 
be  said  to  the  contrary;  it  is  the  ideal  which  can  be 
seen  peeping  out  of  all  English  literature,  almost  with- 
out exception,  in  a  sort  of  deathless  pride  of  race  and 
colour;    and  though,  of  course,  Russians,  Frenchmen, 


188      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Spaniards,  Italians,  Germans  and  others,  since  they  are 
far  less  interested,  pretend  to  view  it  all  in  a  detached 
and  somewhat  amused  manner  —  pointing  to  the  Eng- 
lishman as  a  land  and  sea-pirate  who  affirms  that  he  is  a 
law  unto  himself — they  have  only  to  be  badly  scratched 
(that  is,  to  be  actively  opposed  by  other  men  of  colour) 
to  express  much  the  same  ideas.  That  is  the  lesson  of 
Turkestan,  of  Morocco,  of  Abyssinia,  of  Shantung  — 
the  one  important  difference,  perhaps,  being  that  whilst 
the  Englishman  at  heart  still  believes  that  he  is  self- 
sufficient,  the  Continental  nations  of  Europe  are 
apt  to  proclaim  the  inherent  solidarity  of  the  white 
races  and  to  insist  that  the  day  has  come  when  all  white 
men  should  openly  unite. 

It  can  therefore  be  stated  In  general  terms  that  no 
matter  how  much  It  may  be  possible  for  Europeans,  and 
especially  for  Americans,  to  view  remoter  Eastern  Asia 
in  a  new  way,  and  to  admit  that  new  Ideals  have  be- 
come quite  permissible  In  the  case  of  the  astute  yellow 
man.  In  the  older  portions  of  Asia,  which  have  for  so  many 
centuries  been  in  contact  with  the  white  man,  no 
such  tolerance  need  be  expected  for  years  to  come.  In 
these  regions  the  white  man  has  been  so  long  taught  to 
believe  that  it  is  a  question  of  everything  or  nothing, 
that  he  can  believe  nothing  else.  Either,  then,  he  Is  to 
remain  undisputed  master  where  he  now  stands  en- 
trenched, or  he  is  to  be  beaten  into  ignominious  retreat. 
That  Is  the  present  position. 

In  these  peculiar  circumstances  it  is  with  something 
of  the  start  of  the  sleeper  who  wakes  from  grim  night- 
mare that  one  turns  to  John  Stuart  Mill  —  that  one 
passes  from  the  eminently  practical  to  the  eminently 
philosophic  point  of  view  —  and  gazes  blankly  at  one 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  189 

of  his  most  remarkable  political  pronouncements.  For 
no  matter  how  much  it  may  be  desirable  to  hold  the 
contrary,  it  is  self-evident  that  what  is  fundamentally 
true  of  one  mass  of  human  beings  must  be  equally  true 
of  another  mass,  irrespective  of  colour  or  creed,  or  else 
it  cannot  be  true  at  all.  Fundamental  political 
doctrines  do  not  depend  on  geography  for  their  accuracy ; 
they  are  either  universally  true  or  universally  false.' 
Now  John  Stuart  Mill  said:  "The  government  of  a 
people  by  itself  has  a  meaning  and  a  reality  —  but  such 
a  thing  as  government  of  one  people  by  another  does 
not  and  cannot  exist."  It  is  well  to  ponder  over  this 
dictum  before  going  any  farther,  since  round  it  revolve 
all  the  really  great  present-day  political  and  racial 
problems.  Did  the  great  intellect  which  compressed 
into  this  burning  sentence  the  very  essence  of  politics 

^  "The  actions  of  bad  men  produce  only  temporary  evil,  the 
actions  of  good  men  only  temporary  good;  and  eventually  the 
good  and  the  evil  altogether  subside,  are  neutralised  by  subsequent 
generations,  absorbed  by  the  incessant  movement  of  future  ages. 
But  the  discoveries  of  great  men  never  leave  us;  they  are  im- 
mortal, they  contain  those  eternal  truths  which  survive  the 
shock  of  empires,  outlive  the  struggles  of  rival  creeds,  and  witness 
the  decay  of  successive  religions.  All  these  have  their  different 
measures  and  their  different  standards;  one  set  of  opinions  for 
one  age,  another  set  for  another.  They  pass  away  like  a  dream; 
they  are  as  the  fabric  of  a  vision,  which  leaves  not  a  rack  behind. 
The  discoveries  of  genius  alone  remain;  it  is  to  them  we  owe  all 
that  we  now  have;  they  are  for  all  ages  and  all  things;  never 
young,  and  never  old,  they  bear  the  seeds  of  their  own  life;  they 
flow  on  in  a  perennial  and  undying  stream;  they  are  essentially  cumu- 
lative, and,  giving  birth  to  the  additions  which  they  subse- 
quently receive,  they  thus  influence  the  most  distant  posterity,  and 
after  the  lapse  of  centuries  produce  more  effect  than  they  were  able 
to  do  even  at  the  moment  of  their  promulgation."  —  Buckle:  History 
of  Civilization,  Chap.  IV. 


190      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

imply  that  India  has  really  no  such  a  thing  as  a  govern- 
ment—  that  Russia  has  been  only  a  barbarous  conqueror 
of  the  Khanates  —  that  Egypt  is  only  enslaved  ?  Did 
he  mean  that  it  is  mere  insolence  to  prostitute  a  term 
which  has  an  almost  divine  sound,  and  which  should  be 
as  precious  to  every  people  as  the  altars  of  its  religious 
faith  ?  Did  he  mean  that  it  is  a  foolish  dream  to 
conceive  it  possible  for  one  people  permanently  to  rule 
over  another  people  ?  He  did  mean  it,  and  he  was 
quite  right  in  meaning  it;  for  no  matter  how  flattering 
it  may  be  to  national  pride  to  believe  that  the  reverse 
is  possible,  it  is  really  quite  impossible.  In  the  matter 
of  government  there  is  no  such  arcanum  as  obscurantists 
pretend.  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  either  a  people 
governs  itself,  or  that  people  has  no  real  government  at 
all,  but  only  a  system  of  provisional  administration 
which  must  instinctively  be  looked  upon  as  hateful,  and 
which  because  it  exists  encourages  men  to  dream  of  what 
they  call  liberty.  It  would  be  well  for  nations  who 
have  proclaimed  so  often  that  death  is  preferable  to  loss 
of  liberty,  to  know  that  in  such  sentiments  there  is  no 
monopoly.  They  are  common  to  all  humanity;  the 
meanest  and  least  heroic  people  in  the  world  instinctively 
realise  that  in  the  last  analysis  liberty  is  synonymous 
with  life. 

Now,  admitting  these  things,  it  becomes  clear  that  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  word  neither  India  nor  Egypt 
has  any  real  government,  but  only  a  system  of  pro- 
visional administration  backed  up  by  alien  bayonets  and 
by  a  traditional  fear;  that  the  possessions  of  Russia  in 
Central  Asia  are  similarly  situated;  that  France  in 
North  Africa  is  just  as  unhappily  circumstanced;  and 
that  minor  Powers,  such  as  Spain  and  Italy,  have  actually 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  191 

shown  that  this  is  so  by  drawing  back,  after  attempting 
to  copy  their  greater  rivals.  That  a  growing  and 
perilous  agitation  is  fast  spreading  among  those  who  are 
so  governed,  is  only  logical. 

For  sufficient  time  has  now  elapsed  since  the  great 
conquests  of  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  for 
the  coloured  man  in  these  particular  regions  to  realise 
that  the  domination  which  he  was  beginning  to  look 
upon  as  natural  is  in  reality  quite  unnatural,  and  directly 
opposed  to  the  laws  of  commonsense.  The  man  of 
colour,  therefore,  now  openly  rejects  the  idea  that  he  is 
the  helot  of  the  white  man  —  that  it  is  his  endless  fate 
to  reap  and  sow,  to  buy  and  sell,  to  labour  and  sweat, 
but  not  to  govern.  All  the  scientific  aids  to  the  white 
man's  dominion  —  steamships,  railways,  telegraphs, 
modern  weapons,  high  explosives  —  once  looked  upon  as 
miracles,  have  become  unimportant  trifles,  because  of 
this  sudden  new  knowledge  and  this  sudden  new  deter- 
mination. Out  of  Asiatic  brains  spring  ideas  which 
must  soon  bind  hand  and  foot  these  one-time  ominous 
scientific  things,  and  render  them  only  laughable  as 
governing  instruments,  since  aids  to  government,  like 
laws,  are  made  for  men,  and  not  men  made  for  them. 
It  is  only  necessary,  indeed,  for  a  small  percentage  of 
India's  vast  population  to  understand  thoroughly  the 
inner  meaning  of  Mill's  dictum  to  be  able  to  cripple  for 
ever  an  administration  which  has  endured  for  more  than 
a  century,  and  which,  while  no  doubt  one  of  the  most 
lasting  tributes  to  English  genius  that  has  ever  been 
seen,  is  politically  indefensible,  save  by  invoking  that 
old  barbarian  doctrine  of  force  which  in  Europe  has 
well-nigh  vanished.  And  as  numbers  tell  in  the  modern 
world  as  they  did  in  the  ancient,  the  outlook  can  only 


192      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

be  gloomy  when  nations  possessing  immense  reserves 
of  men  are  willing  to  call  their  full  strength  into  play, 
unless  something  more  than  a  vague  spirit  of  compromise 
arises.  India's  past  history  is  no  index  to  India's  future. 
A  trial  of  strength  in  any  part  of  the  world  is  no  longer 
an  isolated  circumstance,  as  it  once  was ;  and  henceforth 
the  waves  of  any  racial  conflict  must  spread  across  the 
entire  globe.  Loyalty  is  but  a  figment  of  the  brain; 
for  the  loyalty  of  aliens  is  largely  a  matter  of  political 
expediency,  and  the  call  of  race  and  blood  is  supreme. 
When  education  has  advanced  farther,  when  greater 
enlightenment  has  been  won,  this  will  no  longer  be 
doubted. 

Since  this  remarkable  state  of  aff'airs  —  the  coming 
victory  of  mind  over  matter  throughout  all  Asia,  in  the 
face  of  the  greatest  difficulties  —  is  now  generally 
admitted  by  the  thoughtful,  one  may  boldly  inquire  what 
is  really  to  become  of  India  and  the  rest  of  the  Middle 
and  Near  East  during  the  present  century;  or,  in  other 
words,  how  is  the  present  conflict  of  colour  and  conflict  of 
ideals  to  adjust  itself.'*  It  is  best  to  be  quite  frank  and 
to  face  with  open  eyes  the  new  dangers  which  have 
arisen.  No  amount  of  cheerful  optimism,  no  amount 
of  stern  resolution,  no  amount  of  prejudice,  can  help  in 
the  solution,  unless  there  is  an  accompanying  admission 
of  what  are  now  undeniable  facts.  And  since  India  is 
the  real  key  to  all  Nearer  Asia  —  just  as  Japan  is  the 
real  key  to  all  Farther  Asia  —  it  is  India  that  must  be 
most  closely  considered. 

Now  it  must  first  be  remarked,  in  order  to  clear  the 
ground  properly  for  this  discussion,  that  one  of  the  ideas 
which  it  is  the  hardest  to  get  Europeans  —  be  they 
Englishmen    or    Frenchmen,    Germans    or    Dutch  — 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  193 

properly  to  understand,  is  that  the  Asiatic  is  not  delighted 
with  justice  per  se,  as  the  white-skinned  man  pretends  to 
be;  and  that,  indeed,  the  Asiatic  really  cares  but  little 
about  it  if  he  can  get  sympathy  in  the  sense  in  which  he 
understands  that  misunderstood  word.  This  is  a  matter 
of  such  vast  importance  that  it  is  well  to  realise  at  once 
what  a  great  factor  it  is  at  the  present  moment  in  the 
whole  Asiatic  agitation,  and  how  little  attention  is  paid 
to  it  by  politicians,  who  waste  weary  hours  de\iising  what 
seems  to  them  sound  and  just,  whilst  they  are  studiously 
ignoring  what  is  far  more  vital.  This  is  the  real  reason 
why  every  Asiatic  in  his  heart  of  hearts  prefers  the  rule 
of  his  own  nationality,  bad  though  it  be,  to  the  most 
ideal  rule  of  aliens. 

For,  when  he  is  ruled  by  his  own  countrymen,  he 
is  dealt  with  by  people  who  understand  his  frailties,  and 
who,  though  they  may  savagely  punish  him,  are  at  least 
in  sympathy  with  the  motives  which  prompt  his  delin- 
quencies. Such  rulers  will  always  carefully  consider  all 
motives,  and  such  rulers  would  never  dream  of  imposing, 
no  matter  how  sound  it  might  seem  theoretically,  a 
mechanical  scheme  of  life  conceived  in  other  latitudes, 
and  naturally  only  to  those  latitudes.  It  is  the  absence 
of  thermometric  charts  in  the  offices  of  statesmen  which 
is  responsible  for  many  of  the  present  disasters.  And 
when  there  is  superadded  this  disconcerting  lack  of 
sympathy,  the  only  wonder  is  that  recent  years  have  been 
so  tranquil.  Thus,  to  give  a  good  example,  only  a 
maniac  among  Asiatics  would  have  ordered  that  fatal 
step  —  the  partition  of  Bengal  —  in  the  rude  and  harsh 
manner  it  was  encompassed ;  for  no  matter  how  just  and 
sensible  the  step  might  have  been  from  an  administrative 
point  of  view,  from  the  sentimental  point  of  view,  which 


194      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

is  the  supremely  important  point  of  view  where  tradi- 
tion and  custom  hold  absolute  sway  and  are  the  very 
mainstays  of  life,  it  was  a  rough  act  of  folly. 

The  grand  plea,  then,  of  the  white  man  —  that  he  is 
just;  that  he  dispenses  absolute  justice  wherever  he 
rules;  that  he  attends  to  all  measures  with  scientific 
accuracy;  that  his  presence  should  therefore  be 
welcomed  —  this  grand  plea  is  looked  upon  as  only 
stupid  both  by  Asiatics  and  by  those  who  really  under- 
stand Asia,  because  it  totally  ignores  the  only  really 
essential  fact  regarding  Europe's  mastery  over  a  large 
portion  of  Asia,  which  simply  is  that  the  European  is 
disliked  because  he  is  a  European,  and  for  no  other 
reason.  That  is,  because  he  is  a  man  who,  when  set  in 
authority  over  Asiatics,  cannot  understand  their  point 
of  view  or  their  aspirations,  and  who,  moreover,  is 
determined  to  act  as  if  latitude  and  longitude  were  only 
geographical  terms  and  not  political  terms  of  the  highest 
importance.  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend,  a  writer  of 
great  ability,  who  certainly  understood  the  Middle  and 
Near  East  as  few  writers  have  done,  wrote  on  this 
subject  so  luminously  that  it  is  well  to  quote  him  here, 
in  order  still  further  to  emphasise  this  vital  point.  This 
is  what  he  said  about  the  Englishman  r^  — 

"It  is  very  difficult,  of  course,  for  an  Englishman, 
conscious  of  his  own  rectitude  and  benevolence  of  feel- 
ing, to  believe  that  he  will  not  be  more  liked  when  he 
is  better  known;  but  a  good  many  facts  seem  to  show 
that  it  is  so.     He  is  not  seen  and  talked  to  anywhere 

*  Asia  and  Europe:  studies  presenting  the  conclusions  formed 
by  the  author  in  a  long  life  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  relations 
between  Asia  and  Europe.  The  quotation  is  from  the  study 
entitled:    "Race-hatred   in   Asia." 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  195 

by  men  of  a  different  race  so  much  as  he  is  in  Ireland, 
and  he  is  not  hated  quite  so  much  anywhere  else.  He 
is  decidedly  much  more  disliked  in  Egypt  since  he 
appeared  there  in  such  numbers.  He  is  more  hated  in 
the  sea-coast  towns  of  India,  where  he  is  prominent, 
busy,  and  consequently  talked  to,  than  he  is  in  the 
interior  where  he  is  rarely  seen ;  much  more  detested  in 
the  planter  districts  than  in  the  districts  where  he  is 
only  a  rare  visitor.  If  there  is  contempt  foi^  him  any- 
where in  India,  it  is  in  the  great  towns,  not  in  the  rural 
stations  where  he  is  nearly  invisible;  and  contempt  is 
of  all  forms  of  race-hatred  the  most  dangerous.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  Englishman  in  the  great  cities  is 
often  a  low  fellow,  but  that  is  not  a  sufficient  explanation. 
The  officers  of  the  old  Army  were  not  low  fellows. 
The  broadest  of  all  facts  bearing  on  this  suggestion  of 
more  intercourse  is  the  fate  of  that  Army.  No  class  of 
natives  knew  the  European  so  well  as  the  Sepoys  knew 
their  officers,  and  among  no  class  was  that  knowledge 
in  itself  so  irritating.  They  were  notoriously  better 
treated  than  the  men  of  any  army,  the  etiquette  was 
always  to  listen  to  their  complaints,  there  was  a  feeling 
in  many  regiments  that  the  relations  between  men  and 
officers  should  be  filial  and  paternal,  and  everywhere  the 
officers  have  been  true  leaders  in  battle  —  yet  the  Sepoys 
slaughtered  the  officers  out,  killing  also  their  wives 
and  children.  Association  had  in  that  case  only 
deepened  race-hatred.  It  certainly  does  not  extinguish 
it  in  the  Southern  States  of  America,  the  Northerners 
who  do  not  live  with  the  Blacks  being  far  more 
disposed  to  do  them  justice,  though  when  they  emigrate 
southward  they  often  display  a  harder  and  more  bitter 
contempt.     The  Indian,  who,  of  all  the  heroes  of  the 


196      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Mutiny,  showed  the  most  bitter  enmity  to  the  British 
race,  as  distinguished  from  the  British  Government,  was 
AzimooUah  Khan,  who  had  Hved  years  among  them, 
and  knew  English  perfectly;  while  no  white  dwellers 
in  the  tropics  are  quite  so  just  and  benevolent  towards 
dark  races  as  English  Members  of  Parliament,  who  never 
saw  them.  In  truth,  if  we  are  to  take  facts  as  evidencey 
it  might  fairly  be  said  that  the  less  the  white  and  the 
coloured  races  come  into  contact  with  each  other  the  less  is 
the  development  of  race-hatred,  which  only  tends  to  become 
dangerous  when  they  are  interspersed,  and  mutually 
comprehend  one  another's  strength  and  weakness,'^ 

If  this  remarkable  pronouncement  made  by  Mr. 
Meredith  Townsend  some  years  ago  were  accepted  as 
absolutely  final,  nothing  would  remain  for  the  white 
man  but  frankly  to  abandon  all  attempts  at  finding  a 
via  media,  and,  clinging  to  his  inherited  prejudices, 
simply  to  prepare,  in  that  portion  of  Asia  which  he  has 
conquered,  to  defend  them  to  the  death  with  something 
more  than  the  blind  fury  of  the  Allah-inspired  dervish. 
But  fortunately  this  statement,  like  every  broad 
generalisation  from  facts  which  are  difficult  for  any 
single  mind  to  grasp  in  their  entirety,  is  already  out-of- 
date,  not  so  much  in  its  substance  as  its  inferences. 
Furthermore,  it  is  confessedly  the  pronouncement  of  one 
who  has  grown  old  and  grey,  and  can  no  longer  find  a 
place  in  any  serious  argument  for  youthful  optimism. 

For  it  is  a  great  and  illuminating  fact  that  the 
changeless  East  is  at  last  changing,  just  as  the  rest  of 
the  world  is  changing,  though  of  course  much  more 
slowly;  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  developments 
which  have  come  of  recent  years  has  been  the  widespread 
realisation  that  race-hatred  in  Asia  is  simply  the  hatred 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  197 

of  the  **under-dog"  for  the  powerful  animal  which 
stands  growling  over  him.  To  this  Mr.  Meredith 
Townsend  makes  not  the  slightest  reference.  Yet  just 
as  sympathy  is  the  supreme  factor  in  the  personal 
relationship  between  governors  and  governed  in  Asia, 
so  politically  must  the  kernel  of  race-hatred  be  to-day 
sought  in  the  position  held  by  white  men  in  many 
regions  belonging  to  the  man  of  colour.  So  long  as 
relations  established  in  old  and  ignorant  days  are 
sedulously  maintained,  so  long  will  pessimism,  such  as 
Mr.  Townsend  expresses,  be  justified.  But  release  the 
under-dog  from  his  ignominious  position,  and  at  once  it 
will  be  seen  that  much  of  so-called  race-hatred  is  really 
only  the  sullen  and  transitory  anger  which  beaten 
animals  necessarily  indulge  in.  In  other  words,  adjust 
matters  as  they  should  be  adjusted  and  a  change  will 
magically  come.^ 

This  is  no  idle  talk.  Europeans  were  probably 
never  hated  in  Asia  more  than  in  Japan,  where  there  is 
an  immense  and  undying  pride  of  race  greater  and  more 

^  The  treatment  of  India  has  one  peculiar  aspect,  in  that 
Northern  India  with  its  splendid  Aryan  races  has  as  much  claim 
to  be  considered  magnanimously  from  a  racial  point  of  view  as  South- 
Eastern  Europe,  which  is  full  of  Mongolic  elements.  Not  only 
are  the  Turks  pure  Asiatics,  but  so  are  the  Bulgars,  the  Mag- 
yars, as  well  as  other  sub-races  in  this  south-eastern  corner. 
Similarly,  all  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  there  are  large 
traces,  not  only  of  Asiatic-African  blood,  but  of  black  blood. 

The  instinctive  attitude  of  Americans  to-day  on  the  question  of 
the  millions  of  emigrants  flocking  to  their  shores  is  instructive. 
Teutonic  and  Celtic  emigrants  —  English,  Irish,  Scotch,  German, 
Norwegian,  Swedish,  Danish  —  are  welcomed;  Latins  are  not  so 
welcomed;  whilst  the  heterogeneous  elements  from  South-Eastern 
Europe  and  the  Mediterranean  sea-board  are  frankly  disliked,  and 
fears  constantly  expressed  that  they  are  a  debasing  element. 


198      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

blind  even  than  the  English  pride,  before  the  treaties 
with  the  Powers  had  been  revised,  vexatious  disabilities 
removed,  and  the  international  status  of  Japan  afforded 
full  recognition.  To-day  it  may  be  true  that  the 
European  is  still  disliked  by  some  classes  of  Japanese; 
but  he  is  certainly  no  longer  blindly  hated  simply  be- 
cause he  is  a  white  man.  Similarly,  in  China  there  has 
lately  been  an  immense  change  of  opinion  —  a  change 
really  miraculous,  considering  that  the  Chinese  treaties 
have  not  yet  been  revised,  and  seeing  that  the  Euro- 
pean still  often  acts  with  the  utmost  harshness.  When 
China  has  the  privileges  of  equality  which  Japan  has 
won,  the  term  "anti-foreign"  will  have  ceased  to  have 
meaning. 

Now  just  as  there  have  been  these  partial  volte  face 
in  Japan  and  China,  so  it  is  certain  that  in  India,  accord- 
ing to  competent  observers,  a  very  remarkable  develop- 
ment is  quickly  being  recognised  as  a  sign  of  the  times, 
telling  more  clearly  than  any  language  the  nature  of  the 
underlying  feeling.  Briefly,  the  bureaucracy  of  India  is 
fast  becoming  the  sole  enemy,  leaving  the  army,  the 
merchant  and  nondescript  classes  at  most  only  disliked — 
because  it  is  generally  recognised  that  the  bureaucracy 
stands  for  something  which  can  only  be  intensely  hurt- 
ful to  the  pride  of  educated  men;  that  is,  alien  rule.  In 
other  words,  the  general  hatred  of  the  European  in 
India  is  being  rapidly  narrowed  down  to  a  particular 
hatred  for  those  who  are  held  to  have  usurped  the  reins 
of  government  by  the  dangerous  right  of  prescription. 
Thus  to-day  it  has  become  a  much  more  easy  matter 
than  it  was  fifty  years  ago  to  find  the  proper  solution; 
for  India  of  the  twentieth  century  is  not  India  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  199 

What  do  educated  Indians  demand  in  the  way  of  re- 
forms ?  Nobody  has  stated  the  present-day  needs  more 
clearly  than  Mr.  G.  K.  Gokhale,  who,  when  he  visited 
England  some  years  ago,  advocated  the  following 
reforms  as  the  principal  and  immediate  ones  needed  to 
re-establish  confidence  in  England.  It  is  well  to  quote 
these  demands  here,  as  evidently  they  represent  first 
steps  only;  and  once  these  first  steps  have  been  taken, 
others  must  necessarily  follow: 

(i)  Advance  in  self-government.  The  enlargement 
of  the  Legislative  Council,  both  Imperial  and  Provincial, 
an  increase  in  the  proportion  of  their  elected  members, 
and  a  widening  of  their  functions,  including  some  sort 
of  control,  however  limited,  over  public  expenditure. 

(2)  Admission  of  qualified  Indians  to  the  Secretary  of 
State's  Council  and  to  the  Executive  Councils  of  the 
Viceroy  and  of  the  Governors  of  Madras  and  Bombay. 
The  nomination  of  Indian  members  of  the  Secretary  of 
State's  Council  to  be  made  by  an  electoral  college  com- 
posed of  the  elected  members  of  the  various  Legislative 
Councils  in  India. 

(3)  A  free  and  unfettered  career  in  the  public  ser- 
vices, involving  a  large  substitution  of  the  economical 
and  equally  efficient  Indian  agency  for  the  costly  foreign 
agency  in  the  higher  ranks  of  all  departments,  and  local 
competitive  examinations. 

(4)  Cautious  but  steady  improvement  of  the  position 
of  Indians  in  the  army. 

(5)  Decentralisation  of  district  administration  and 
extension  of  municipal  self-government. 

(6)  Separation  of  judicial  from  executive  functions, 
and  reconstitution  of  the  judicial  service,  by  placing  it 


200      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

under  the  control  of  the  High  Courts  instead  of  under 
the  executive  Governments,  and  by  substituting  legal 
practitioners  as  judges  in  place  of  members  of  the  Civil 
Service. 

(7)  Reduction  of  military  expenditure;  also  of  the 
heavy  cost  of  the  civil  administration,  due  to  the 
higher  branches  of  the  pubHc  service  being  a  virtual 
monopoly  of  Europeans,  so  as  to  set  free  funds  to  be 
devoted  to  the  following  objects :  — 

(a)  Elementary  education,  which  should  be  made 
free  at  once  throughout  India  and  gradually  compulsory. 

(b)  Industrial  education. 

(c)  Improved  sanitation  for  the  poor. 

(J)  Abolition  of  the  salt  tax  and  the  opium  tariff. 

(e)  Measures  for  the  relief  of  agricultural  indebted- 
ness, and  the  improvement  of  the  cultivator's  material 
condition  generally, 

A  rapid  perusal  of  these  proposed  reforms  at  once 
shows  that  the  moderates  in  Indian  politics  do  not  yet 
aspire  to  anything  more  than  a  share  in  the  administra- 
tion of  India  —  all  that  educated  India  now  demands  is 
to  be  given  a  real  and  practical  share,  no  matter  how 
small,  in  the  administration,  and  thus  to  put  an  end 
to  the  present  system,  under  which  the  opinion  of  a 
foreign  official  overrides  and  completely  extinguishes 
that   of  the   educated    men   of  India. 

To  those  who  have  some  acquaintance  with  the 
practical  work  of  government  but  who  know  nothing 
of  Indian  conditions,  certain  clauses  in  the  list  of  the 
reforms  just  quoted  should  occasion  great  surprise  —  not 
because  of  the  changes  contemplated,  but  because  of  the 
strange  state  of  affairs  which  has  so  long  obtained  in  a 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  201 

great  Empire  without  provoking  tremendous  and  wide- 
spread criticism  and  agitation.  That  judicial  and 
executive  functions  should  not  have  been  separated 
before  now  is  surely  a  blot  on  English  administration, 
since  the  two  functions  are  entirely  incompatible. 
That  no  attempt  should  have  been  made  until  recently 
to  improve  the  general  lot  of  the  people  —  that  is,  to 
educate  them,  to  upHft  them,  to  make  them  something 
better  than  mere  helots,  toiling  under  the  heel'  of  the 
usurer  as  they  have  toiled  for  endless  centuries,  is 
nothing  short  of  a  disgrace.*  Whereas  in  a  little 
country  such  as  Japan,  which  according  to  Western 
ideas  has  only  been  "civilised"  for  fifty  years  —  what- 
ever that  expression  may  mean — the  development  of 
local  hypothec  banks,  local  savings  banks,  and  special 
land  banks  has  been  enormous,  in  India  virtually  noth- 
ing has  yet  been  done  in  such  a  direction;  and  Indian 
statesmen  are  still  content  to  look  upon  the  mass  of 
Indian  people  much  in  the  same  light  as  an  unthinking 
shepherd-boy  looks  upon  the  sheep  he  cares  for  —  that  is, 
as  silly  creatures  which  must  be  driven  in  flocks  hither 
and  thither  so  that  their  stomachs  may  be  satisfied,  but 
which  need  no  other  form  of  attention  save  periodic 
clipping.     The  dirt,  the  disease,  the  squalor  of  India 

*  That  this  statement  is  not  a  whit  too  strong  may  be  judged 
from  the  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  subject.  It  is 
true  that  Suttee,  infanticide,  Thuggee,  human  sacrifices,  and 
hook-swinging  have  been  stamped  out;  but  nearly  one-fifth  —  or 
sixty  millions  —  of  the  Indian  population  is  sunk  in  the  most 
miserable  servitude  and  bestial  ignorance,  i.e.,  the  pariahs,  the 
namahsudras  and  aboriginals  are  all  openly  abandoned  creatures. 
It  is  useless  to  accuse  the  caste  system  —  a  nation  that  has  usurped 
the  government  of  the  country  might  have  yielded  before  the  use 
of  bombs  to  the  dictates  of  common-sense  and  justice,  and  have  done 
something  to  uplift  the  whole  great  mass  of  the  population. 


202      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

are  all  directly  traceable  to  this  lack  of  education,  this 
lack  of  proper  financial  development,  this  lack  of 
proper  stimulus  to  native  energies.  It  is  these  things 
which  have  again  and  again  attracted  the  most  unfavour- 
able foreign  criticism;  it  is  these  things  which  have 
been  left  uncared  for  during  a  time  when  there  was  every 
incentive  to  care  for  them  —  the  last  half-century;  and  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  if  a  careful  and  scientific-minded 
people  such  as  the  Japanese  had  occupied  the  position 
which  the  British  have  occupied  in  India  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  very  different  results  would 
have  been  accomplished. 

Still  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  largely  owing  to  the 
liberalism  of  Lord  Morley,^  something  has  lately  been 

^  The  chief  facts  of  Lord  Morley's  reform  scheme  are  these: 
A  native  has  been  added  for  the  first  time  to  the  Executive 
Council  of  the  Governor-General  of  India.  This  Council  was 
composed  of  six  Departmental  members  and  the  Commander-in- 
Chief —  all  Englishmen  —  till  the  appointment  in  1909  of  Mr.  S. 
Prasanna  Sinha,  an  Indian,  as  head  of  the  Law  Department. 
Next,  the  Viceroy's  Legislative  Council,  while  retaining  its  official 
majority,  has  been  increased  to  62  members  (instead  of  24),  of 
whom  28  are  to  be  elected.  The  rest  will  be  nominated.  And 
in  the  new  Councils  there  are  to  be  26  Indians  instead  of  four  as 
before.  The  new  Indian  members  will  have  the  right  to  move 
resolutions  on  administrative  and  financial  matters,  which  will  be 
put  to  the  vote. 

Lord  Morley's  other  proposals  concern  the  Provincial  Legislative 
Councils.  The  Governors  of  Madras  and  Bombay  are  to  have 
their  Councils  doubled  in  number  —  that  is  to  say,  to  consist  of 
four  instead  of  two,  and  one  of  these  is  to  be  an  Indian  in  each 
case. 

The  Legislative  Councils  of  all  the  seven  provinces  of  India  are 
to  be  doubled  in  number,  and  here  again  Indians  are  to  have 
places.  These  Councils  are  to  be  given  power  to  discuss  matters 
of  public  and  general  importance.  It  is  also  intended  that  in 
time    the    other    five    provinces  —  Bengal,    E.    Bengal    and    Assam, 


Ill  THE   BROWN  WORLD  203 

done  in  several  directions  sensibly  to  improve  matters; 
and  it  may  be  even  taken  for  granted  that   during  the 

United  Provinces,  Punjab,  and  Burmah  —  shall  have  executive 
Councils  (of  two  members)  similar  to  Bombay  and  Madras. 

The  Executive  Councils  are  the  cabinets  of  the  provinces,  and 
the  Legislative  Councils  are  their  Parliaments.  On  the  latter 
native  Indians  have  long  served.  The  innovation  is  in  their 
admission  to  the  Executive  Councils. 

In  these  new  Councils  the  representation  is  to  be  by  classes  and 
interests,  and  election  through  electoral  colleges,  as  this  is  regarded 
as  the  "only  practical  method  of  embodying  the  elective  prin- 
ciple" in  the  constitution  of  these  Councils. 

Lord  Morley  thus  describes  his  scheme  for  electoral  colleges :  — 

"I  will  briefly  describe  the  scheme  that  at  present  commends 
itself  to  me,  and  in  order  to  make  the  method  of  working  clear,  I 
will  assume  hypothetical  figures  for  a  given  province.  Let  it  be 
supposed  that  the  total  population  of  the  province  is  20  millions, 
of  whom  15  millions  are  Hindus  and  5  millions  Mohammedans, 
and  the  number  of  members  to  be  elected  12.  Then,  since  the  Hin- 
dus are  to  Mohammedans  as  three  to  one,  nine  Hindus  should 
be  elected  to  three  Mohammedans.  In  order  to  obtain  these 
members,  divide  the  province  into  three  electoral  areas,  in  each 
of  which  three  Hindus  and  one  Mohammedan  are  to  be  re- 
turned. Then  in  each  of  these  areas  constitute  an  electoral 
college,  consisting  of,  let  us  say,  a  hundred  members.  In  order 
to  preserve  the  proportion  between  the  two  religions,  75  of  these 
should  be  Hindus,  and  25  Mohammedans. 

"This  electoral  college  should  be  obtained  by  calling  upon 
the  various  electorates,  which  might  be  substantial  landowners 
paying  not  less  than  a  fixed  amount  of  land  revenue,  the  members 
of  rural  or  sub-divisional  boards,  the  members  of  district  boards, 
and  the  members  of  municipal  corporations,  to  return  to  it  such  can- 
didates as  they  desired,  a  definite  number  being  allotted  to 
each  electorate.  Out  of  those  offering  themselves  and  obtaining 
votes,  the  75  Hindus  who  obtained  the  majority  of  votes  should  be 
declared  members  of  the  college,  and  the  25  Mohammedans 
who  obtained  the  majority  should  similarly  be  declared  elected.  If 
the  Mussulmans  returned  did  not  provide  25  members  for  the 
electoral  college  the  deficiency  would  be  made  good  by  nomination. 
Having    thus    obtained    an    electoral    college    containing    75    Hin- 


204      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

next  two  or  three  decades,  as  the  moral  sense  of  the 
English  people  is  more  and  more  aroused  and  they 
gradually  understand  a  difficult  question,  Mr. 
Gokhale's  programme  will  gradually  be  realised  in 
entirety.  Indians  have  at  last  been  admitted  to  a  small 
yet  substantial  representation  in  both  the  central  and 
provincial  administrative  systems;  and  it  cannot  be 
doubted  not  only  that  from  year  to  year  their  in- 
fluence will  increase,  but  that  an  extension  of  this  same 
policy  will  be  demanded  and  obtained  in  many  other 
directions. 

For  this  programme  is  admittedly  only  a  first  step; 
the  next  step  will  undoubtedly  come  not  many  years 
hence  in  the  form  of  a  new  and  wide-spread  demand 
for  the  substitution  of  some  bona  fide  decentralised 
system  of  representative  government  for  the  present 
administrative  system.  In  other  words,  it  will  one  day 
be  a  question  of  practical  politics  whether  the  federation 
of  all  India  under  some  pseudo-European  form  is  to  be 
worked  out,  or  whether  the  granting  of  autonomy  to 
the  various  provinces,  which  will  make  India  assume 
something  of  the  political  appearance  of  South  America 

—  a  South  America  united  by  a  sort  of  general  concordat 

—  is  the  more  practical  scheme.  It  is  useless  scoffing  at 
such  ideas;  it  is  already  quite  impossible  to  believe  that 
the  present  system  has  any  elements  of  permanency. 
History  may  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  precedent  of  any 
country  —  however  mighty  and  successful  —  perma- 
nently enslaving  any  other  country,  and  what  Mill  has 
erected  into  a  great  axiom  in  practical  politics  is  nothing 

dus  and  25  Mohammedans,  that  body  would  be  called  upon 
to  elect  three  representatives  for  the  Hindus,  and  one  for  the 
Mohammedans." 


Ill  THE   BROWN  WORLD  205 

but  a  simple  statement  of  an  undeniable  historical  fact. 
The  next  few  years  should  therefore  afford  a  valuable 
breathing-space,  during  which  poHtical  England  will 
have  to  make  up  its  mind  whether  it  is  worth  while 
attempting  to  retain  India  as  an  integral  portion  of  the 
British  Empire,  on  much  the  same  terms  as  Canada, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa;  or  whether 
the  highest  political  ideal  which  can  be  found  for  India, 
because  it  is  an  Asiatic  country  and  not  a  white  man's 
country,  is  a  somewhat  modified  fief  of  the  British 
Crown,  to  secure  which,  in  case  of  necessity,  mediaeval 
prejudices  will  be  aroused  and  mediaeval  precedents 
fully  followed. 

Should  a  cruel  Nemesis  will  the  latter,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  doubt  in  the  writer's  mind  that  some  day — 
it  may  be  fifty  years  off,  but  not  a  hundred  years  off  — 
India  will  be  lost  to  England,  and  one  of  the  most  splen- 
did experiments  ever  made  in  the  political  history  of 
man  will  end  in  nothing.  But  surely  it  is  permissible  to 
hope  that  the  latter  alternative  is  the  more  unlikely  of 
the  two,  since  the  spirit  of  compromise  is  already  in  the 
air,  and  the  via  media  can  gradually  be  found.  Swadeshi, 
boycott,  bomb-throwing — these  rebellious  movements  of 
the  brown  man  under  the  yoke  of  the  white  man  —  are 
only  the  temporary  symptoms  of  a  very  grevious  com- 
plaint; to  employ  again  the  eloquent  language  of  the 
kennel,  they  are  simply  the  howls  of  the  under-dog  still 
securely  pinned  down  by  the  British  bulldog,  and  still 
rudely  shaken  by  him  if  he  stirs.  That  such  a  condition 
cannot  permanently  last  is  self-evident  to  every  enlight- 
ened man. 

Now,  if  the  second  alternative  is  to  be  finally  realised, 
if    India    is    to    become    some    day    a    self-governing 


206      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

dominion  —  it  is  essential  not  only  that  there  should  be 
a  remarkable  change  in  the  general  attitude  adopted  to- 
wards the  natives  of  the  country,  but  that  there  should 
be  an  equally  remarkable  change  in  the  quality  of  the 
instruments  used  to  carry  on  the  English  part  of  the 
governance.  It  is  a  fact  which  has  of  late  years  become 
more  and  more  evident  to  those  who  concern  themselves 
with  such  problems,  that  much  of  the  education  which  is 
still  comprised  in  the  higher  studies  of  Europeans  to-day 
utterly  unfits  them  to  grasp  Orientalism,  and  indeed 
trains  them  almost  directly  to  be  in  open  opposition  to 
Orientalism  and  to  hate  it,  A  plain  soldier  or  sailor — 
or  better  a  scientist  —  is  a  hundred  times  more  suitable 
a  man  to  deal  with  the  problems  arising  out  of  a  close 
contact  with  Orientalism,  than  the  classical  student  who 
is  the  chief  instrument  in  consummating  what  a  writer 
such  as  the  Rev,  W,  H.  Fitchett  is  pleased  to  call  "the 
miracle  of  the  Government  of  India."  It  may  be  a 
miracle,  but  the  days  of  miracles  are  past.^  If  the  East 
is  ever  to  be  the  ally  of  England,  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  training  and  ideals  of  those  who  are  called 
upon  to  act  in  any  official  capacity  throughout  Asia  be 
radically  altered.  The  hateful  priggism  which  no  open- 
minded  man  can  doubt  is  inseparable  from  a  too  fervid 
study  and  worship  of  the  literature  and  laws  of  Greece 
and  Rome  —  with  their  rigid  and  unbending  formalism, 
their  narrow  traditions  and  all  the  illiberalism  with  which 

^  The  main  part  of  the  miracle  apparently  consists  in  the  fact 
that  young  men  such  as  District  Officers  are  entrusted  with  the 
supreme  control  over  half  a  million,  or  even  a  million  of  people 
—  a  state  of  affairs  in  the  modern  world  which  instead  of  being  toler- 
able is  intolerable.  It  is  also  forgotten  that  were  it  not  for  the  fact 
that  every  eastern  rule  of  life  is  the  real  policeman,  even  such  a  ques- 
tionable miracle  as  this  would  not  be  possible. 


Ill  THE   BROWN  WORLD  207 

they  are  saturated  —  this  priggism  is  no  stuff  with  which 
to  build  a  permanent  empire.  The  haughty  and  inso- 
lent distrust  of  other  men ;  the  singular  lack  of  sym- 
pathy; the  ingenious  belief  in  the  perpetual  efficacy  of 
methods  which  can  only  be  sound  under  certain  condi- 
tions and  in  certain  environments  —  all  these  things  and 
many  others  form  part  and  parcel  of  the  mass  of  reasons 
why  the  success  of  England  will  be  one  day  turned  into 
grim  failure,  unless  the  rising  tide  of  English  democracy 
completely  submerges  and  extinguishes  such  meretri- 
ciousness.  The  detachment  and  simplicity  of  mind  with 
which  the  problems  of  Asia  need  to  be  approached,  if 
they  are  to  be  solved,  can  never  be  attained  by  those  who 
have  encased  themselves  in  an  unmeaning  formalism, 
suitable  only  for  monasteries  and  monks;  and  until 
English  Liberalism  lays  it  down  that  the  presence  of 
pro-consuls  and  their  lieutenants,  such  as  have  been  re- 
cently known,  is  not  only  a  direct  invitation  to  revolt, 
but  an  actual  incitement  to  do  so,  so  long  will  there  be 
open  danger  of  the  very  worst  sort. 

For  it  is  quite  clear  not  only  that  the  time  has  come 
when  Liberalism  demands  an  improvement  in  Indian 
conditions,  but  that  the  day  has  dawned  when  India 
should  be  permitted  to  cherish  the  same  aspirations  as 
every  other  great  region  of  the  world  of  which  geography 
makes  a  definite  unit.  India  indeed  should  be  en- 
couraged and  urged  to  have  aspirations,  which  are 
legitimate  and  natural,  and  which  are  perhaps  best  here 
expressed  in  amphibolic  terms.  All  the  world  over  the 
rights  of  eminent  domain  carry  with  them,  by  virtue  of 
an  unwritten  law,  certain  assumptions  which  are  not  only 
beneficent  for  the  welfare  of  States  but  necessary  for  the 
continued   prosperity  of  those  States.     Thus  America 


208      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

has  created  the  so-called  Monroe  doctrine;  England,  the 
doctrine  of  her  predominant  sea-power;  South  America, 
the  Drago  doctrine;  Australia,  the  "All  White"  doctrine 
—  not  to  speak  of  many  less  known.  So  imbedded  are 
these  doctrines  in  the  rock  of  commonsense  that  no 
thoughtful  person  thinks  of  disputing  them;  the  time 
has  come  when  India  should  be  allowed  to  enunciate  a 
new  doctrine. 

The  peculiar  and  commanding  geographical  position 
of  India  in  the  world  of  Asia  has  attracted  attention 
from  the  earliest  times.  To  go  back  no  farther  than 
the  days  of  Peter  the  Great  —  since  it  is  peculiarly 
apposite  to  insert  here  a  Russian  view  —  we  find  in  that 
much  disputed,  yet  always  interesting  document,  the 
reputed  will  of  a  far-seeing  sovereign,  the  following 
sentence :  — 

"Bear  in  mind  that  the  commerce  of  India  is  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  and  that  he  who  can  exclusively 
control  it  is  the  master  of  Europe:  no  occasion  should 
therefore  be  lost  to  provoke  war  with  Persia,  to  hasten 
its  decay,  to  advance  to  the  Persian  gulf,  and  then  to 
endeavour  to  re-establish  the  ancient  trade  of  the  Levant 
through  Syria." 

Now  apart  from  the  fact  that  this  pronouncement  is 
invested  with  a  special  interest  in  an  age  when  railways 
change  the  face  of  a  country  and  re-model  distances  and 
conditions  —  when  deserts  mean  nothing  and  mountains 
are  no  barriers  —  it  is  curious  to  reflect  that  although 
the  British  tenure  of  India  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  old,  English  statesmen  have  never  really  got 
beyond  the  ancient  Chinese-Japanese  idea  which  has 
now  been  abandoned  by  these  two  peoples  —  the  policy 
of  seclusion,  the  policy  of  sedulously  shutting  off  India 


m  THE  BROWN  WORLD  209 

from  all  contact  by  land  and  relying  on  the  command 
of  the  sea  for  all  intercourse.  That  this  is  a  very 
singular  reflection  to  have  to  make  in  an  age  such  as 
the  tw^entieth  century,  when  in  every  branch  of  human 
activity  the  military  advice  of  a  Clausewitz  has  become 
a  cardinal  principle  —  that  a  vigorous  offensive  is  the 
best  defensive,  and  that  to  stand  still  is  to  languish  —  no 
one  will  deny.  Possibly  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  no  higher  ideal  has  been  found  than  merely  to 
administer  the  country  on  the  principles  of  the  Japanese 
Shogunate  or  the  Manchu  Son  of  Heaven,  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  lamentable  confession  that  as  a  race  the 
English  are  strategically  stupid  —  if  such  an  expression 
is  permissible.  In  spite  of  what  is  to-day  so  constantly 
said  to  the  contrary,  and  probably  believed  by  a  good 
many  who  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  inclination  to 
think,  it  remains  abundantly  true  of  the  Englishman 
that  his  foreign  politics  are  in  the  main  of  the  bull- 
headed  order,  and  that  his  great  strength  is  still  best 
described  in  that  happy  phrase  of  Mr.  KipHng's  re- 
garding the  British  soldier — "that  he  understands  that 
he  must  not  understand."  It  is  not  only  that  the  great 
forward  steps  made  in  the  nineteenth  century  —  steps 
such  as  the  introduction  of  ironclads  and  the  cutting  of 
the  Suez  Canal,  which,  though  they  have  done  much  to 
secure  British  predominance,  were  most  bitterly  opposed 
—  it  is  not  only,  we  say,  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
understand  these  things,  but  that  even  when  he  did 
understand  them  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  think 
beyond  them.  In  a  word,  not  having  the  swift  and  ac- 
curate strategical  glance  of  the  Frenchman,  he  has  been 
quite  content  to  allow  the  greatest  possibilities  to  stand 
before  him  unheeded ;  and  has  strictly  confined  himself, 


210      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

because  of  the  timidity  of  his  imagination,  to  plain 
straight-forward  administrative  work  which,  politically, 
amounts  to  marking  time  and  nothing  more. 

For  it  must  be  undoubted  that  long  ago  the 
advisability  of  interesting  India  as  a  World-Power, 
would  have  been  apparent  if  the  future  had  been 
properly  studied;  if  men  could  have  looked  boldly 
over  little  internal  complications,  and  seen  the  relations 
which  India  really  bore  to  the  chaotic  regions  reaching 
straight  to  the  Mediterranean.^  It  has  been  too  long 
held  that  amphiscians,  together  with  those  whose  colour 
causes  them  to  be  wrongly  classified  as  such,  are  different 
from  other  men  insomuch  as  they  possess  no  political 

*  General  Sir  Ian  Hamilton  wrote  this  inspired  statement  in 
his  book  on  the  Russo-Japanese  War  (A  Staff-officer's  Scrap-Book, 
Vol.  I).  "There  is  material  in  the  north  of  India,  sufficient 
and  fit,  under  good  leadership,  to  shake  the  artificial  society  of 
Europe  to  its  foundations  if  once  it  dares  to  tamper  with  that 
militarism  which  now  alone  supplies  it  with  any  higher  ideal  than 
money  and  the  luxury  which  that  money  can  purchase.  It  is 
heroism,  self-sacrifice  and  chivalry  which  redeem  war  and  build 
up  national  character.  What  part  do  these  heroic  qualities  find 
in  the  ignoble  struggle  between  the  nations  for  commercial 
supremacy,  with  stock  exchanges  and  wheat-pits  for  their  battle- 
fields?" If  then  it  is  merely  a  question  of  finding  leaders,  a 
gradual  diffusion  of  knowledge  will  produce  those  leaders,  and, 
once  they  have  been  found,  how  can  England  hope  to  retain  under 
the  British  Crown  this  vast  Empire  permanently  —  unless  Indians 
are  exactly  in  the  same  position  of  independence  as  Canadians  and 
Australians  to-day  occupy  ? 

It  is  a  fact  which  is  but  little  known,  but  which  throws  a  lurid 
light  on  the  whole  future  of  England  in  Asia,  that  during  the 
Russo-Japanese  War,  the  Japanese  military  officer  attached  to  the 
staff  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  India,  offered  formally,  but 
confidentially,  to  Lord  Kitchener  one  Japanese  Division  of  reserve 
troops  for  service  in  India  should  Russia  show  any  activity  on  the 
North-Westem  frontier.  And  this  to  the  masters  of  tens  of  millions 
of  fighting-men! 


in  THE  BROWN  WORLD  211 

ambitions  beyond  their  own  borders.  Now  while  this 
doctrine  may  have  been  true  in  the  old  days  when 
practically  every  region  in  Asia  was  self-sufficient;  when, 
moreover,  each  region  was  governed  in  the  way  which 
best  suited  it,  without  any  regard  for  external  factors; 
when  each  region  raised  within  its  own  borders  all  that 
was  needed  in  food  and  clothing  —  circumstances  have 
so  remarkably  altered  during  the  past  generation  or 
two,  that  it  has  become  abundantly  clear  that,  given 
the  necessary  incentives,  all  men  possess  the  same 
ambitions.  That  the  men  of  India  should  to-day,  in 
spite  of  the  discouragement  which  they  have  received, 
look  beyond  their  own  frontiers  and  talk  of  the 
condition  of  other  nations  is  a  most  healthy  and  reassur- 
ing sign;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  should  this 
new  phenomenon  be  properly  met,  it  will  become  of  the 
greatest  assistance  in  world-politics.  Here  it  is 
essential  to  be  more  explicit. 

The  transference  of  the  British  wardenship  of  the 
Pacific  to  the  people  of  the  three  great  commonwealths 
—  Canada,  Australia  and  New  Zealand  —  has  already 
commenced  in  a  tentative  fashion,  and  this  seems  to 
mark  the  beginning  of  an  era  when  the  sea-power  of 
England  will  be  entirely  concentrated  in  the  waters  of 
Europe.  So  far  only  a  beginning  has  been  made;  so 
far  nothing  much  more  has  been  done  than  to  enunciate 
a  new  principle,  since  until  the  two  other  great 
dominions  —  South  Africa  and  India  —  are  effectively 
joined  in  some  similar  scheme,  enormous  lines  of 
communications  must  be  kept  open  by  the  mother 
country,  and  the  value  of  this  policy  of  naval  devolution 
will  not  be  as  manifest  as  it  should  be.  But  has  not 
the  time  already  arrived  when  India  should  be  entitled 


212      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

to  create  a  navy  which,  as  the  country  grows  in  political 
understanding,  should  steadily  grow  in  strength  ?  Let 
us  boldly  ask,  would  not  the  flying  of  an  Indian  naval 
flag  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  the  Arabian  Sea,  in  the  Red 
Sea,  and  even  in  the  Mediterranean,  not  only  animate 
the  breasts  of  Indian  patriots,  but  convince  all  Europe 
and  Asia  that  a  new  giant  was  growing  up  —  a  giant  no 
longer  the  helot  of  England,  but  England's  real  ally?^ 
Would  not  the  politics  of  Afghanistan,  of  Persia,  of 
Arabistan,  and  of  Turkey  —  not  to  speak  of  that 
strategically-important  north-eastern  angle  of  Africa, 
of  which  Egypt  is  the  principal  part  —  be  enormously 
influenced,  sooner  or  later,  by  such  a  tremendous  factor  ? 
Is  it  not  too  much  still  to  maintain  that  men  who  in 
hundreds  of  thousands  wear  the  uniform  of  the  King- 
Emperor  in  one  service,  have  no  right  to  wear  it  in 
thousands   in   another  service?^     In  these  days,   when 

*  An  interesting  sidelight  on  the  natural  inter-communication 
between  the  western  coasts  of  India  and  Arabistan  is  thrown  by 
the  regular  enlistment  of  Arabs  in  the  irregular  forces  of  the  na- 
tive State  of  Hyderabad,  which  has  gone  on  for  a  very  long  time. 
The  distance  which  Arabs  still  penetrate  in  all  directions  on  the  In- 
dian Ocean  is  remarkable  in  many  ways  —  considering  that,  un- 
like the  Japanese,  they  have  not  adopted  steam-navigation.  Save 
for  the  Japanese  and  the  Chinese,  they  are  the  most  maritime  of  all 
Asiatics. 

^  It  is  perhaps  worthy  of  being  specially  mentioned  that  the 
number  of  Indian  seamen  employed  in  the  British  mercantile 
fleet  is  steadily  increasing.  In  1894  there  were  26,175  lascars 
on  British  ships:  in  1908  the  figure  had  risen  to  44,152.  It 
seems  plain  that  this  growth  will  be  continuous  and  that  in  a  few 
decades  a  very  large  portion  of  the  mercantile  marine  will  be 
dependent  on  Indian  labour.  Attention  is  continually  drawn  to  the 
numbers  of  foreigners  employed  on  British  ships  —  34,735  aliens 
against  196,834  British  —  but  this  other  point  is  surely  equally 
significant. 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  213 

events  march  so  rapidly,  when  negligence  or  rebuff  are 
so  widely  reflected,  every  means  of  political  insurance 
should  be  adopted  by  those  who  should  foresee  the 
future  and  not  merely  sit  waiting,  prepared  to  make 
concessions  only  when  the  rude  voice  of  revolt  is 
heard. 

Far  more  important  to  India,  both  nationally  and 
imperially,  than  any  question  of  the  adjacent  seas  is 
the  question  of  adjacent  lands.  Whilst  it  is  a  fact  that 
vast  mountain  barriers  theoretically  completely  enclose 
the  sub-continent,  both  to  the  north-west  and  to  the 
north-east  there  is  good  escapement.  And  further, 
there  is  not  only  good  escapement,  but  good  entrance 
into  the  country.  Whilst  Baluchistan  may  be  held  the 
counterpart  of  Burmah,  it  is  a  poor  counterpart  —  for 
beyond  lies  no  other  Asiatic  power  of  latent  strength. 
Persia,  a  land  three  times  as  large  as  the  German 
Empire,  is  admittedly  in  a  state  of  solution,  and  the  rule 
of  the  Kajars  is  doomed.  The  sparse  population  of  the 
country,  amounting  to  less  than  fifteen  persons  per 
square  mile,  remains  stationary,  and  not  the  slightest 
evidence  is  to  be  seen  that  the  people  have  any  desire 
or  power  to  arouse  themselves  from  their  lethargy. 
Since  it  is  an  axiom  in  Indian  politics  that  no  power  can 
be  allowed  to  advance  to  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
it  is  high  time  that  the  future  of  the  great  Plateau  of 
Iran  were  considered.  Why  cannot  a  stream  of  Indian 
emigration  be  directed  to  this  region  —  why  cannot  some 
policy  more  intelligent  than  the  present  one  be 
attempted  ^  Irrigation  and  the  hand  of  the  Indian 
cultivator  could  regain  vast  regions  which  to-day  are 
virtually  desert;  schemes  are  feasible  which  would 
bring  not  only  profit  but  honour;    and  by  interesting 


214      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

the  Indian  people  in  great  schemes  beyond  their  own 
borders,  by  giving  them  an  inkhng  of  what  their  future 
may  be  as  a  colonising  race  —  instead  of  organised  out- 
rage being  an  ideal,  there  would  come  a  speedy  appre- 
ciation of  the  fact  that  a  new  era  had  dawned  in  which 
bombs  had  no  legitimate  place  at  all.  It  has  been  a  too 
slavish  belief  in  exploded  doctrines  —  a  clinging  to  what 
is  nothing  but  a  "mumpsimus"  which  has  been  so  pro- 
vocative of  disorder  and  disgust:  to  sweep  all  this  away 
should  be,  not  only  the  business  of  the  hour,  but  the 
business  of  the  entire  century. 

For,  abandoning  all  ambiguity,  it  is  abundantly  clear 
that  India's  real  future  lies  not  only  in  industrialism  —  in 
factory-servitude  —  as  some  preach,  but  in  territorial 
expansion;  that  is  to  say,  racial  expansion.  That  this 
will  inevitably  come  some  day  is  quite  clear;  but 
whether  there  will  be  in  the  political  to-morrow  English 
statesmen  able  and  fit  to  direct  that  expansion  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  natural  migra- 
tory movement,  such  as  the  movement  of  the  English 
race  to  Canada,  seems  to-day  doubtful.  Yet,  that  India's 
horizon  must  be  broadened;  that  some  compensation 
must  be  found  for  the  restriction  of  Indian  immigration 
to  Africa  and  to  America;  in  a  word,  that  new  fields  for 
an  overspill  of  a  swarming  population  must  be  marked 
down,  so  that  virtual  sterilisation  and  stagnation  do  not 
at  last  become  a  new  political  menace  —  this  admits  no 
longer  of  any  doubt.  In  the  last  analysis,  only  by  such 
a  policy  will  it  be  possible  to  secure  not  only  the  shores 
and  hinterland  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  but  the  future 
balance  of  power  in  Asia.  And  this  is  precisely  what 
must  always  be  kept  in  view. 

For,  when  we  progress  further  to  the  westward  in  our 


m  THE  BROWN  WORLD  215 

study  of  the  map  and  of  the  conditions  which  that  map 
discloses,  we  find  at  once  that  the  situation  is  even  more 
complex  in  Egypt  than  in  India — the  fate  of  master  and 
servant  being  involved  in  a  still  more  curious  manner. 
In  India,  England  can  at  least  try  what  experiments  she 
may  choose  for  the  time  being,  or  try  no  experiments  at 
all,  knowing  that  her  title  is  not  only  clear  but  that  the 
greatest  mountain-barrier  in  the  world  virtually  shuts  in 
the  country  on  the  north,  whilst  the  broad  ocean 
surrounds  it  elsewhere;  to  which  can  be  added  the  cold 
comfort  that,  in  case  of  necessity,  the  might  of  a  whole 
prejudiced  Empire  may  possibly  still  be  summoned  to 
rush  to  the  rescue,^  India  thus  still  lies  securely  in 
England's  hands,  no  matter  how  reactionary  her  policy 
may  be;  for  whilst  reformers  talk  and  argue  and  insist, 
well  do  they  know  that  the  black  shadow  of  an  English 
revenge  still  hangs  like  a  pall  over  them. 

But  in  Egypt  geography  is  not  so  kind;  neither  is  the 
dominant  race  so  convinced  of  possessing  there  any  holy 
right.  Nor,  again,  is  Egypt  a  real  country;  neither  is 
the  new  nationalism  so  firmly  bottomed.  For  Egypt  is 
only  a  province  —  a  province  exposed  to  the  menace  of 
the  desert  —  a  province  temporarily  dominated  by  men 
of  one  race  whilst  it  really  belongs  by  older  right  of 
conquest  to  men  of  another  race  and  colour,  who  are 
even  now  being  assisted  to  rehabilitate  themselves  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe  by  so-called  constitutionalism,  and  who 

^  In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  remark  that  in  view  of  the 
recent  declarations  in  the  Canadian  Parh'ament  on  the  question  of 
Imperial  responsibilities,  it  is  doubtful  if  Canada  would  class  an 
Indian  revolt  as  a  justifiable  reason  for  demanding  her  armed 
co-operation  with  the  other  forces  of  the  British  Crown  to  repress 
such  a  revolt;  and  if  Canada  declined  to  co-operate,  the  other  over- 
seas Dominions  might  follow  her  example. 


216      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

may  yet  make  demands  regarding  their  old  province 
which  are  not  yet  whispered.  Virtually  Egypt  has  no 
frontiers  at  all  —  Egypt's  frontiers  are  merely  made  by 
England's  battleships  and  by  England's  watch  over  the 
desert.  Egypt  is  therefore  surrounded  by  outer  perils 
which  are  not  shut  off  as  are  the  outer  perils  which 
menace  India:  Egypt's  perils  are  undefined.  Arab, 
Soudanese  and  Turk  perhaps  wait  only  for  a  disturb- 
ance of  the  present  balance  of  naval  power  to  leap  for- 
ward ;  and  thus  every  step  in  Egypt  may  be  for  England 
a  real  step  in  retreat.  For  since  it  can  be  no  longer 
doubted  that  a  subtle  connection  exists  between  each 
portion  of  modern  Asia  —  whilst  the  religion  of  Islam 
makes  Western  Asia  and  Northern  Africa  openly  united 
against  the  white  man  —  it  is  amply  clear  that  the  situa- 
tion in  Egypt  is  more  delicate  and  more  confused  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  world  of  colour,  making  it 
largely  a  question  of  political  cunning  of  how  properly 
to  postpone,  rather  than  to  solve,  the  problem  that  waits 
on  India. 

Yet,  even  when  this  is  admitted  to  be  so  —  when 
Egypt  is  confessedly  no  schoolroom  —  it  may  be  said  that 
in  the  past  British  policy,  in  all  matters  of  internal 
administration  requiring  tact  and  discrimination,  has 
been  bad  from  start  to  finish.  Where  British  officials 
have  had  technical  or  straightforward  work  to  do  — 
ruler-like  work  fit  for  unimaginative  men  —  such  as 
work  in  the  Army,  in  the  Finance  Ministry,  or  in  the 
Irrigation  Service,  they  have  done  it  in  a  manner 
deserving  of  the  highest  praise.  But  just  as  in  India,  so 
in  Egypt  has  the  work  in  the  Ministry  of  Justice  and  in 
the  Ministry  of  Education  been  worse  than  faulty, 
because    questions    of   policy    have    been    inextricably 


Ill  THE   BROWN  WORLD  217 

involved  in  questions  of  law  and  justice  and  education; 
whilst  the  yet  more  strange  failure  in  the  Ministry  of 
the  Interior  has  been  mainly  due  to  a  policy  not  so 
much  of  deceit  as  of  stupidity.  To  declare  that  the 
internal  administration  of  a  country  is  to  be  left  un- 
touched, and  then  to  attempt  a  more  active  interference 
than  in  any  other  branch  of  government,  is  not  very 
clever  or  politically  sound ;  in  the  end  such  a  policy  is 
ruinous,  since  the  work  of  aHen  officials,  whose  position 
can  only  be  covertly  or  partially  recognised,  is  exactly 
similar  to  that  class  of  work  against  which  the  Bible 
gives  warning  —  the  building  of  houses  on  sand. 

For  this  lack  of  sympathy,  this  lack  of  confidence,  in 
Egypt,  heavy  payment  will  some  day  be  exacted.  The 
justice  of  the  native  contention  that,  while  intelligent 
men  are  willing  to  accept  guidance  and  instruction  from 
men  qualified  to  give  it,  it  is  unreasonable  to  make  the 
country  a  school  for  ignorant  young  Englishmen,  is 
only  being  tardily  admitted  here  as  elsewhere;  and 
once  again  is  it  proved  that  in  the  detail  work  of 
foreign  affairs  England  is  clumsy.  The  constant  asser- 
tion that  the  total  unfitness  of  the  Egyptians  for 
self-government  is  evident  to  every  practised  eye,  has  no 
meaning  to  those  who,  knowing  both  the  limitations  of 
the  European  mind  and  the  meaning  of  Orientalism, 
recognise  in  that  statement  the  blind  clinging  to  a  point 
of  view  which,  just  as  has  happened  in  the  case  of 
Japan,  will  inevitably  have  to  be  abandoned  whenever 
a  modicum  of  Europe's  sole  elixir,  force,  has  been 
accumulated. 

Nor  is  it  wise  or  expedient  to  accentuate,  in  the 
manner  which  is  still  the  fashion  of  the  day,  the 
so-called    low   level    of  intelligence   of  the  fellahin  — 


218       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

pointing  to  the  dense  population  of  cultivators  gathered 
on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  as  a  mass  to  be  led  or  driven 
blindly  by  superior  intelligence.  If  this  be  an  accurate 
description  of  ten  millions  of  men  in  this  year  of  grace, 
the  deeper  is  the  shame  that  it  remains  so  after  a  genera- 
tion of  so-called  political  guidance.  That  here,  as 
elsewhere  in  the  Orient,  there  is  a  backbone  and  a  brain, 
only  waiting  to  be  strengthened  and  encouraged,  is 
amply  clear;  and  that  here  as  elsewhere  only  blows 
and  bombs  should  bring  reason  is  something  which 
should  give  not  only  students  and  sociologists  but  every 
democracy  of  the  world  much  to  ponder  over.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  internal  position  in  Egypt  will  one  day 
inevitably  re-act  on  the  whole  of  what  may  be  called 
the  Nearer  East.  And  this  is  an  unhappy  circumstance. 
For,  whilst  it  is  still  permissible  to  speak  of  India  as 
the  brightest  jewel  in  the  British  Crown,  Egypt  is  only 
valuable  just  as  Malta  and  Gibraltar  and  Aden  are 
valuable  —  that  is,  because  it  dominates  lines  of  com- 
munication which  are  as  precious  as  the  possessions 
themselves  because  of  the  peculiar  tenure  on  which  those 
possessions  are  held.  For  the  possessions,  without  these 
lines  of  communication  are  properly  dominated  and 
secured,  are  of  no  lasting  value  so  long  as  they  are  held 
simply  by  the  sword  and  not  by  affection  and  devotion ; 
so  long  as  they  do  not  consider  themselves  as  integral 
parts  of  a  far-flung  Empire.  Therefore,  so  long  as 
India  is  administered  as  it  still  is  to-day,  so  long  as 
new  ideals  have  not  been  officially  sanctioned  and 
enshrined,  so  long  must  Egypt  be  retained  in  its 
present  anomalous  condition.  The  reformers,  taking 
fresh  courage  with  every  bomb  that  explodes  abroad, 
may   clamour    all   they   will;   their   clamour   will    not 


in  THE  BROWN  WORLD  219 

affect  the  political  issue  in  the  slightest.  Though 
Egypt  were  as  ripe  for  self-government  as  United 
South  Africa,  though  Egyptians  could  adduce  ten 
thousand  arguments  with  which  to  fortify  their  demand 
for  an  English  evacuation,  all  such  arguments  fall  to 
ground  because  of  that  one  condition  —  that  Egypt  is 
in  the  last  analysis  an  Indian  question,  is  bound  to 
the  Indian  question  by  a  hundred  ties,  and  cannot  be 
radically  touched  until  India  has  been  radically  dealt 
with. 

For  it  is  a  remarkable  and  little  appreciated  fact 
that  the  greatest  possible  menace  to  this  province,  and 
to  the  rest  of  the  priceless  canal  route  to  the  East,  now 
comes  not  so  much  from  the  old  Egyptian  rivals  as 
from  Asia  and  Africa  themselves.^  It  is  well  to  look 
at  things  for  a  while  telescopically,  instead  of  micro- 
scopically, and  to  understand  how,  owing  to  that  vast 
double  movement  now  going  on  in  the  East  —  the  growth 
of  numbers  and  the  growth  of  knowledge  —  different 
factors  are  to-day  supreme. 

During  past  centuries  it  has  always  been  European 
rivalry,  and  not  really  Asiatic  or  African  resistance, 
which  has  been  the  chief  danger  menacing  distant 
overseas  possessions  of  European  Powers;  because  the 
white  man,  being  vastly  superior  in  the  arts  of  war  to 

^  It  is  plain  that  the  whole  question  of  the  Suez  Canal  will  have 
to  be  frankly  considered  one  day  —  and  a  good  many  documents 
and  agreements  torn  up,  no  matter  how  great  the  outcry  may  be. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  only  sensible  plan  for  holding  a  canal 
—  and  securing  its  neutrality  —  is  the  method  adopted  by  America 
in  the  case  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  fortification  of  the  Suez 
Canal  and  the  garrisoning  of  a  ceded  canal  zone  by  Indian 
troops  would  be  as  great  a  coup  d'etat  as  giving  Home  Rule  to  the 
Irish. 


220      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

all  other  men,  could  not  be  opposed  with  success  unless 
fought  by  other  white  men.  The  man  of  colour, 
beaten  in  small  conflicts,  readily  joined  his  fortunes 
with  some  white  master  or  other,  so  that  from  this 
fighting  alliance  might  come  personal  advantage. 
Thus  there  was  the  spectacle  of  England  and  France 
fighting  one  another  with  the  utmost  bitterness  in 
India  so  as  to  draw  automatically  from  victory,  not  only 
European  prestige,  but  Asiatic  empires.  Napoleon  so 
well  understood  this,  that  he  always  dreamed  great 
dreams  of  founding  an  Eastern  Empire,  which  would 
serve  to  adjust  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe  by  afford- 
ing endless  reservoirs  of  strength  out  of  Europe  —  strength 
which,  had  it  been  won,  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
used  in  ways  few  men  to-day  even  dare  to  imagine. 
Had  this  great  conqueror  been  successful  in  Egypt  and 
Syria  —  had  his  Persian  plans  been  brought  to  maturity, 
and  the  heart  of  India  laid  bare  —  he  would  have  truly 
won  the  sceptre  of  the  world;  for  with  the  countless 
millions  of  these  regions  at  his  beck  and  call,  the  fate 
of  the  world  would  have  lain  in  his  hands. 

To  defeat  these  plans,  England  attacked  and  attacked 
with  a  desperation  which  was  never  before  equalled. 
Victory  brought  the  only  long  peace  which  has  been 
enjoyed  for  many  decades.  Yet,  though  there  was  this 
long  peace,  though  as  far  as  this  peculiar  European 
rivalry  was  concerned,  these  Asiatic- African  questions 
were  apparently  dead,  they  soon  were  shown  to  be  only 
slumbering.  Briefly,  so  long  as  Europe  remained  in 
the  matter  of  offensive  strength  far  ahead  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  so  long  was  it  impossible  for  peace  to  be 
founded  on  any  permanent  basis. 

The    Crimean    War    re-opened    Eastern    questions 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  221 

formally;  and  by  the  close  of  the  Russo-Turkish  war 
of  '78,  Russia  had  so  far  taken  the  place  once  occupied 
by  France  that  Disraeli  thought  it  necessary  to  acquire 
a  new  outpost  —  Cyprus  —  so  that  a  new  guarantee 
should  exist  for  the  inviolability  of  British-Asiatic 
communications. 

For  though  the  Crimean  campaign  had  demonstrated 
once  again  that  Russia's  strength  was  defensive  strength 
and  not  offensive  strength,  the  Turkish  war,  in  spite 
of  a  hundred  mistakes,  showed  that  against  unorganised 
Asiatics  the  white  man's  weight  and  persistence  were 
still  the  same  factor  they  had  always  been;  in  a  word, 
that,  out  of  Europe,  Russia  was  an  offensive  Power. 
The  slow  but  continuous  Russian  advance  in  Central 
Asia,  until  the  frontiers  of  Afghanistan  had  been  reached, 
sounded  the  same  note.  In  other  words,  the  day  had 
not  yet  come  for  the  Asiatic  to  assert  himself;  it  was 
therefore  left,  as  before,  mainly  a  European  question  as 
to  who  should  control  this  part  or  that  part  of  Asia. 
Had  Russia  been  well  advised;  had  she  understood  the 
enormous  responsibilities  she  was  shouldering  alone  and 
unaided,  by  acting  in  the  twentieth  century  as  England 
had  acted  in  the  eighteenth,  disaster  would  not  have 
overtaken  her.  But  she  was  ill-advised  and  disaster  did 
overtake  her  —  and  the  new  situation  was  born. 

Thus,  through  this  chain  of  facts  we  return  to 
Eastern  Asia  once  more  and  see  how  everything  is 
closely  linked.  For  the  reflex-action  of  the  dramatic 
Japanese  victories  over  Russia  by  land  and  sea  has  been 
to  make  every  Asiatic  nation  suddenly  conscious,  not 
only  of  its  present  condition,  but  of  its  past  condition, 
and  to  allow  every  such  nation  finally  to  understand  that 
real   salvation   no  longer  lies  in   provoking  European 


222      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

rivalries,  but  in  self-assertion.  That  is  a  very  important 
point.  So,  as  Asia  turns  back  to  the  history  of  the  past 
few  centuries,  Asia  sees  at  last  how  in  spite  of  an  im- 
measurable inferiority  to  the  European  in  the  arts  of  war, 
a  little  more  resistance  would  have  secured  very  different 
results.  And  since  then  Asia  has  counted  its  numbers 
and  knows  them;  henceforth  this  great  continent  will 
always  proceed  to  work  on  a  very  different  basis. 

Now  since  this  is  so,  since  old  methods  of  rivalry 
must  be  abandoned,  it  has  become  essential  for  the  only 
two  great  European  suzerain  Powers  in  Asia  —  England 
and  Russia  —  not  merely  to  enter  into  vague  agreements 
concerning  spheres  of  influence,  but  properly  to  go  out 
towards  one  another,  and  meet  each  other  honestly  on 
the  footing  of  honest  men.  This  can  be  the  only 
permanent  solution.  Russia,  because  of  her  geography, 
her  peculiar  political  system,  her  long  mixing  with  Asia, 
her  imaginative  powers,  and  the  slight  extent  to  which 
the  question  of  race-prejudice  intrudes  itself,  is  already 
many  steps  ahead  of  England  in  the  great  work  of 
properly  obliterating  political  boundaries  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  turn  her  Asiatic  peoples  into  real  allies. 
Yet  there  is  no  reason  why,  in  a  somewhat  different 
manner,  England  cannot  do  exactly  the  same  thing. 
The  methods  may  be  different,  but  the  results  can  still 
be  identical.  To  establish  a  proper  equipoise  in  each 
given  region,  which  will  effectively  release  the  controlling 
country  from  the  present  attitude,  is  the  question  of  the 
hour;  and  it  is  round  this  question  that  revolve  all 
other  questions  of  the  Middle  and  Near  East,  from  the 
confines  of  Tibet  to  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean. 

For  though  it  may  seem  too  soon,  as  a  question  of 
practical    politics,    to    consider    whether    regenerated 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  223 

Turkey  is  capable  of  founding,  with  the  aid  of 
constitutionaHsm,  a  great  Moslem  Empire  which  will 
be  nearer  the  confines  of  India  than  the  slopes  of  the 
Balkans,  it  is  by  no  means  too  soon  to  view  this  as  a 
factor  of  the  very  highest  importance  in  the  racial 
possibilities  of  the  future.  The  Austrian  advance  in 
the  Balkans  is  of  much  greater  future  significance  than 
of  present  significance;  for  it  heralds  a  movement 
which  can  only  be  continuous.  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  in  the  end  Europe  will  regain  possession  of  St. 
Sophia  and  the  Bosphorus  —  thus  giving  to  Asia  Minor 
and  the  whole  land-route  to  India  the  importance  it 
had  before  the  year  1453.  Let  there  be  no  doubt 
about  this;  for  the  racial  pressure  which  has  com- 
menced anew  can  only  produce  profound  results.  The 
plain  fact  being  that  the  Turk  is  the  most  militant  of 
Asiatics,  the  fate  of  his  race  largely  depends,  not  so 
much  on  the  spread  of  constitutionalism,  which  is  a 
pure  exotic,  as  on  the  regeneration  of  his  militarism. 
And  if  the  European  capital  of  Turkey  is  lost,  as 
infallibly  it  must  one  day  be  lost,  the  Turk  must 
seek  new  provinces  wherein  to  find  his  centre  of 
gravity. 

Thus  one  automatically  returns  to  points  that  have 
already  been  considered.  Persia  being  a  second  Korea, 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time  for  that  country  to  be 
absorbed,  and  one  of  the  buffers  which  keep  Russia 
and  England  apart  removed.  If  Afghanistan  goes  the 
same  way,  as  it  must  go  when  Persia  goes,  the  Russian 
Empire  and  the  British  Empire  will  at  last  be  face  to 
face,  and  they  will  be  forced  to  solve  their  differences 
in  a  final  manner  or  be  overwhelmed  by  a  common 
fate.     It   would   certainly   serve   the   true  interests  of 


224       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

both  countries  if  an  Asiatic  empire,  at  least  as  strong 
as  Japan  now  is,  were  to  arise  in  Western  Asia  —  for 
such  an  empire  would  serve  to  fix  things,  to  change 
them  from  their  present  fluid  state,  and  to  render 
impossible  the  advent  of  any  new  white  conqueror  in 
Asia  Minor.^  It  would  also  undoubtedly  hasten  the 
movement  towards  placing  Asiatic  dependencies  on  a 
proper  footing;  and,  by  giving  them  a  sense  of 
citizenship  which  they  now  lack,  would  invite  them 
to  share  properly  the  burden  of  defence  and  offence. 
If,  for  instance,  India  could  become  a  State  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word,  she  alone  could  amply  secure  that 
peace  would  permanently  reign  in  a  region  as  great 
as  Europe.  Though  the  rise  of  a  new  Turkish 
Empire  might  bind  Mahommedans  very  closely 
together,  and  give  birth  to  a  new  species  of  Asiatic 
Irredentism,  political  freedom  would  prove  superior,  as 
it  always  has  done,  to  any  religious  call;  and  a  free 
people  would  arrest  the  progress  of  a  mediaeval  cry. 

It  is  the  possibility  that  no  strong  independent 
Asiatic  State  may  arise  in  Nearer  Asia,  as  it  has  in 

^  The  question  of  properly  linking  India  to  the  Mediterranean  is 
no  new  one.  As  early  as  1835  General  Chesney  was  despatched 
to  Asia  Minor  to  survey  the  projected  route  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 
The  cost  of  this  railway  was  then  estimated  at  ;{^i 0,000,000 
sterling  —  the  distance  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Persian  Gulf 
being  some  900  miles.  It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  enor- 
mous value  of  a  railway  which  would  keep  to  the  right  bank 
of  the  Euphrates  during  the  whole  of  its  course  —  such  a  railway 
would  completely  neutralise  the  ill-effects  of  the  Bagdad  Railway, 
and  later  it  would  be  possible  to  extend  it  through  Persia  and  Ba- 
luchistan to  India  itself.  One  has  only  to  travel  on  the  Siberian 
railway  or  on  the  new  Chinese  railway  leading  from  Peking  into 
Mongolia  to  understand  the  enormous  changes  which  such  con- 
structions at  once  produce. 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  225 

Further  Asia,  which  is  disconcerting;  for  whilst  things 
remain  in  solution  there  can  be  but  Httle  doubt  that 
sporadic  disturbance  and  general  unrest  will  tend  to 
increase.  Some  menace  of  Asia  by  Asia  is  needed  to 
make  Asiatics  properly  conscious  of  the  needs  of  the 
hour  —  to  make  them  willing  to  turn  their  eyes  inwards 
and  seek  salvation  themselves,  as  the  Chinese  are  now 
willing  to  do  because  of  the  Japanese  menace  which  so 
heavily  hangs  over  them.  That  is  the  true  salvation; 
the  only  real  salvation.  The  salvation  of  Europe  in 
Asia  lies  in  creating  an  internal  Asiatic  balance  of  power 
similar  to  the  European  balance  of  power;  a  balance 
of  power  having  fundamentally  little  or  nothing  to 
do  with  European  domination  and  existing  entirely 
independent  of  it.  The  growth  of  vast  Asiatic 
empires,  which  may  come  if  there  is  no  prescience 
shown,  is  as  menacing,  economically  and  politically,  to 
Europe  as  it  is  to  Asia;  and  surely  no  permanent 
peace  is  secured,  no  racial  happiness  insured,  by  such 
unions  as  the  present  Anglo- Japanese  alliance,  which 
deliberately  pits  one  European  State  against  another  in 
Asia.  Such  a  course  is  only  a  pis  aller,  a  quibbling  with 
the  great  future  question,  the  using  of  an  antiquated 
method.  The  time  has  arrived  when,  without  passion 
or  prejudice,  not  only  should  this  be  admitted,  but  a 
more  far-seeing,  a  more  noble,  and  a  more  stable  policy 
put  into  practice. 

Only  two  white  races  are  supremely  interested  in 
Asia  and  what  it  stands  for  —  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the 
Slav.  Only  these  two  races  can  solve  the  Asiatic 
problem.  For  though  France  has  important  stakes, 
the  loss  of  those  stakes  would  not  mean  to  the  world 
what  a   general   British   retreat  or  a  general  Russian 

Q 


226      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

retreat  would  mean.  And  for  England,  on  other 
grounds,  it  is  not  politic  to  lose  time.  For  to- 
morrow, when  England  will  have  shrunk  to  a  very 
small  measure,  because  of  the  growth  of  the  new 
Englands  in  Canada,  in  Australia,  in  New  Zealand, 
in  South  Africa;  when  the  Empire  —  if  it  still  exists  — 
will  mean  an  Empire  of  many  hundreds  of  millions 
of  white  men,  the  majority  possessing  definite  and 
unalterable  opinions  on  the  question  of  colour  —  in 
that  historical  to-morrow  either  unembarrassing  and 
consistent  arrangements  will  have  been  made  regarding 
possessions  still  regarded  in  the  light  of  mediaeval  fiefs, 
or  there  will  be  no  such  possessions. 

The  hour  has  rung  when  old  views  must  be  entirely 
abandoned.  Just  as  the  only  sound  and  enduring  ideal 
in  Eastern  Asia  is  the  creation  of  reasonable  balance  of 
power  between  two  Asiatic  Powers  —  a  balance  which 
may  yet  never  come  about,  because  of  the  false  policy 
now  being  pursued  —  so  in  Nearer  and  Middle  Asia 
should  something  resembling  the  same  counterpoise  be 
aimed  at,  entirely  independent  of  Europe.  It  will  never 
be  possible  to  arrange  the  minor  questions  of  what  may 
be  called  the  sociological  relations  between  East  and 
West  which  are  now  so  often  discussed  —  the  confining 
of  working  men  to  certain  zones;  the  question  of 
international  policing  and  tariffs;  the  definition  of 
many  things  now  carefully  left  undefined  —  until  these 
main  matters  have  been  attended  to. 

Is  it  possible  to  hope  for  such  a  reasonable  solution  ? 
If  expert  opinion  remains  expert  prejudice  and  nothing 
else,  one  might  well  end  with  the  words  used  by 
General  Gordon  regarding  India  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago:    "You  may  do  what  you  will.     It  will  be  no  use. 


Ill  THE  BROWN  WORLD  227 

India  will  never  be  reformed  until  there  has  been  a  new 
revolt."  But  that  was  said  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
when  the  free  democracies  were  not  properly  conscious 
of  their  strength.  It  is  through  the  free  democracies 
that  the  final  solution  can  alone  be  worked  out.  Let 
them  use  their  strength  before  it  is  too  late. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE    BLACK    PROBLEM 


There  is  perhaps  nothing  quite  so  cruel  in  the  whole 
world  as  the  strange  law  which  has  given  to  so  many 
scores  of  millions  of  human  beings  coal-black  faces  and 
bodies,  thus  so  distinguishing  them  from  the  rest  of  the 
human  family  that  this  singular  colour  —  together  with 
the  unalterable  odour  which  accompanies  it,  and  the 
simian  features  which  accentuate  it  —  is  held  to  be  the 
mark  of  the  beast. 

In  European  climes,  where  the  black  man  —  the 
African  native  —  is  generally  only  a  creature  imagined 
and  not  seen  or  understood,  and  where,  if  he  does 
happen  to  wander,  he  is  so  submerged  in  the  flood 
of  whites  that  he  cannot  possibly  count,  it  may  sound 
like  a  grievous  and  foolish  overstatement  to  speak  of 
the  negro  is  such  harsh  and  uncompromising  terms. 
But  in  the  two  Americas,  in  Africa  and  along  the  vast 
Asiatic  coast-line,  as  well  as  in  the  world  of  island 
outposts  along  each  of  these  continents,  the  coal-black 
native  is  almost  universally  considered  as  a  man  utterly 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world's  inhabitants,  and 
therefore  not  far  removed  from  being  accursed. 

228 


CH.  IV         THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  229 

This  is  not  at  all  strange  to  those  who  know  the  full 
story  of  the  colour  conflict,  and  how  that  conflict  has 
raged  far  back  in  days  now  shrouded  in  the  im- 
penetrable  mists    of  antiquity. 

The  whole  history  of  India,  for  instance,  from  the 
earliest  time  has  been  one  long  story  of  colour  pre- 
judice, and  more  cruelty  has  probably  been  displayed 
there  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world  put  together. 
The  aboriginal  tribes  who  still  form  a  not  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  population  were  black,  though,  of  course, 
they  were  not  negroes;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Aryan  races,  which  in  the  dim  past  migrated  into 
India  in  regular  waves  as  they  did  into  Europe,  because 
they  were  white,  simply  devised  the  iron  system  of 
castes  which  has  stood  the  test  of  thousands  of  years,  so 
as  to  prevent  the  undue  mixing  of  a  dominant  race  with 
an  inferior  people.  Miscegenation  —  a  term  only  in 
general  use  in  the  United  States  to-day  —  was  therefore 
as  much  feared  in  the  East  Indies  in  the  pre-Christian 
era  as  it  is  to-day  in  those  Southern  States  where  the 
Black  Belt  has  grown  thickest.  It  is  a  fact  certainly 
well  worth  always  remembering  that  castes  in  Sanskrit 
are  called  colours,  thus  proving  that  race-prejudice  is 
absolutely  ingrained  in  human  beings,  no  matter  in 
what  part  of  the  world  they  may  live,  whenever  two 
conflicting  races  struggle  not  so  much  for  racial 
supremacy   as   for   racial   existence. 

Yet  though  this  is  so,  many  people  are  so  ignorant 
to-day  as  to  imagine  that  the  whites  of  the  Southern 
States  of  the  American  Union  are  cruel  to  despair  in 
their  treatment  of  the  black  man  —  in  the  way  they 
segregate  him  and  then  lynch  him  if  he  shows  the 
slightest    signs    of  the    great    lust    with    which    he  is 


230      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

popularly  credited/  But  people  in  Europe  think  this 
only  because  they  do  not  understand  those  primitive 
impulses  which  are  indissolubly  mixed  with  all  racial 
questions.  The  anxiety  to  preserve  racial  purity  is  a 
natural  and  commendable  one;  it  is  common  to  all  the 
higher  peoples  of  the  world;  and  since  it  is  one  of 
nature's  most  jealously-guarded  laws  that  purity  means 
life,  to  descend  to  the  level  of  those  pulpit  orators  who 
blindly  advocate  the  removal  of  barriers  which  can 
never  be  properly  removed,  is  really  to  descend  to  a 
level  which  even  brute  beasts  do  not  understand. 
Those  who  advocate  wholesale  cross-breeding  as  a 
sensible  method  of  solving  racial  antagonism  un- 
doubtedly  talk   of  things   about   which   they   are   not 

*  The  publication  of  much  of  the  subject-matter  of  this  chap- 
ter in  article  form  in  America  has  called  forth  a  voluminous 
and  somewhat  pathetic  correspondence  from  coloured  people  in 
the  Southern  States  —  a  correspondence  in  which  the  strongest 
exception  is  taken  to  the  phrase  that  the  black  race  is  a  perfect 
type  of  arrested  development,  and  that  consequently  the  ill- 
treatment  of  the  negro  at  the  hands  of  the  higher  races  is  nothing 
much  more  than  can  be  expected.  It  is  argued  by  the  writer's 
correspondents  that  in  all  States  where  the  negro  population  is  con- 
siderable, the  white  population  deliberately  keeps  coloured  folk 
from  being  educated  —  relying  on  this  ignorance  as  a  great  politico- 
economic  factor.  Moreover,  negro  correspondents  allege  that 
so  far  from  their  people  being  the  principal  offenders  in  the  most 
heinous  crime  of  the  South,  the  raping  of  girls,  it  is  the  low- 
grade  white  who  everywhere  takes  advantage  of  his  colour  and 
forces  coloured  women  to  abandon  themselves  to  his  will.  The 
intense  feeling  displayed  by  the  writer's  correspondents  shows  how 
insoluble  the  problem  really  is  —  it  is  a  true  conflict  of  colour,  and  a 
conflict  which  can  never  terminate.  The  writer  himself,  having 
had  a  life-long  and  practical  acquaintance  with  colour  problems,  is 
unable  to  see  how  anything  diflPerent  could  be  expected.  In  the 
last  analysis,  where  races  commingle,  where  their  interests  clash, 
it  is  force  alone  —  or  the  threat  of  force  —  which  secures  control. 


IV  THE   BLACK  PROBLEM  231 

qualified  to  speak.  Such  a  movement,  if  it  could  be 
started,  would  destroy  the  world.  And  this  is  exactly 
what  all  who  have  some  practical  acquaintance  with  the 
problem  but  too  well  know. 

Thus  the  whites  of  the  Southern  States,  as  everyone 
who  has  lived  in  Asia  or  Africa  understands,  when  they 
do  everything  they  can  to  prevent  all  mixing  of  blood, 
are  simply  obeying  natural  laws,  which,  if  they  ignored, 
would  quickly  lead  to  their  own  undoing.  In  these 
Southern  States  miscegenation  is  rightly  held  to  be 
an  offence  far  worse  than  manslaughter,  and  when  the 
guilty  couple  have  gone  through  the  formality  of 
marriage  it  is  punished  by  life-imprisonment.  It  is 
felt  that  unless  the  greatest  restraints  are  imposed,  the 
position  of  the  whites,  who  are  too  often  in  the 
minority,  would  speedily  become  intolerable  from  an 
inter-breeding  which  would  perforce  drag  all  down  to 
the  mixed  white  level  of  certain  parts  of  South  America, 
notably  Brazil  —  where  the  black  man  has  bred  not 
only  with  whites,  but  with  Indians,  thus  producing 
dreadful   hybrids. 

The  black  man  is  something  apart  —  something  un- 
touchable —  and  this  was  so  deeply  felt  even  by  the  great 
crowds  of  Chinese  miners  who  thronged  the  mining 
camps  of  South  Africa  during  the  five  years  of  the 
yellow  labour  experiment,  that  few  readily  stooped  to 
having  any  relations  with  Kaffir  women  —  in  sharp 
contrast  to  the  behaviour  of  the  emigrants  in  the 
Straits  Settlements,  in  Siam,  in  Burmah,  in  Java,  and  in 
Sumatra,  where  the  men  of  China  readily  mate  with 
many  varieties  of  brown  women,  and  are,  indeed,  proud 
of  their  mixed  offspring.  Therefore,  that  there  exists 
some  law  forbidding  the  mixing  with  black  blood  is 


232      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

as  fully  realised  by  the  yellow  man  as  by  the  white 
man;  and  though  in  Western  Asia  and  Northern 
Africa  some  races,  the  Arabs  for  example,  seem  to 
have  partially  overcome  this  strangely  persistent  pre- 
judice, the  Soudanese  and  other  cross-breeds  which  are 
now  so  numerous  are  considered  very  inferior  to  pure- 
bred brown  men,  and  at  best  only  just  a  little  better 
than  the  coal-blacks. 

Furthermore,  it  is  well  that  arm-chair  critics  should 
know  once  and  for  all  that  men  are  not  alone  in  this 
aversion.  In  North  China,  for  instance,  where  the 
breeding  of  mules  is  conducted  on  a  vast  scale  for  trans- 
port purposes,  every  villager  knows  that  the  animals 
themselves  intensely  dislike  the  mating  which  produces 
the  curious  hybrid  called  the  mule,  and  that  this  dislike 
can  only  be  overcome  by  ruse.  This  is  well  known 
to  every  breeder;  that  nature  herself  has  been  outraged 
is  proved  in  the  perpetual  impotence  of  the  offspring  of 
this  forbidden  union;  and  though  it  is  possible  to 
point  to  undoubted  cross-breeding  in  certain  lower 
animals,  it  is  an  unquestionable  fact  that  all  animals,  like 
all  men,  feel  the  influence  of  definite  laws  which  forbid, 
under  ordinary  conditions,  all  promiscuous  mixing  of 
blood. 

Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  in  the  case  of  man 
there  is  good  reason  for  this  profound  aversion  on 
other  grounds.  The  black  man  has  given  nothing 
to  the  world.  He  has  never  made  a  nation  —  he 
belongs  to  nothing  but  a  subject  race.  He  has  no 
architecture  of  his  own,  no  art,  no  history,  no  real 
religion,  unless  animism  be  a  religion.  His  hands  have 
reared  no  enduring  monuments,  save  when  they  have 
been  forcibly  directed  by  the  energies  of  other  races. 


IV  THE   BLACK  PROBLEM  233 

The  black  man  —  the  negro  —  is  indeed  the  world's 
common  slave;  he  has  been  a  slave  in  Asia  far  more 
than  he  has  ever  been  a  slave  in  America,  for  his 
slavery  in  plantations  lasted  but  a  few  short  decades, 
whereas  in  Asia  it  has  certainly  endured  for  three 
thousand  years,  if  not  twice  or  thrice  as  long,  and  even 
now  openly  lasts  in  such  countries  as  Turkey,  where 
the  Ethiopian,  after  having  been  emasculated,  plays  the 
part  of  harem  watch-dog. 

Fate  thus  seems  to  have  marked  the  African  down. 
No  matter  how  much  one  may  animadvert  against 
the  Asiatic,  no  matter  how  much  one  may  dislike  him, 
it  is  a  fact  that,  though  he  may  never  have  been 
scientific,  he  has  contributed  immensely  to  the 
civilisation  of  the  world;  has  founded  every  great 
religion  that  exists;  has  built  enduring  monuments 
and  temples;  and  possesses  withal  in  many  ways  a  more 
reasonable,  a  more  subtle,  and  a  more  speculative  brain 
than  the  European.  In  poetry,  in  art,  the  debt 
Europe  owes  Asia  is  immense  —  far  greater  than  is 
commonly  supposed;  for  no  one  knows,  nor  will 
ever  know,  how  much  the  Greeks  really  borrowed 
from  Indo-Persian  civilisation,  and  how  little  they 
themselves  originated.  Hebrew,  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Arab,  Hindu,  Persian  —  and  many  others  —  have  con- 
tributed their  ordered  quota  in  this  sum  total;  all 
have  had,  and  will  continue  to  have,  a  profound 
influence  on  the  world's  progress.  Not  so  the  black 
man.  He  is  the  child  of  nature  —  the  one  untutored 
man  who  was  a  helot  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  as  he 
is  still  a  virtual  slave,  though  his  manumission 
throughout  the  world  is  one  of  the  great  landmarks 
in    the    history   of  the    nineteenth    century.     Save   in 


234       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

rare  cases,  it  seems  that  he  cannot  rise  in  the  scale 
beyond  a  certain  point.  The  originating  power  of  the 
European  or  of  the  Asiatic  are  not  in  him ;  and,  though 
he  can  imitate  well  enough,  as  is  strangely  enough  the 
case  also  with  the  Japanese,  it  is  the  woman  and  not  the 
man  who  has  the  greater  industry,  the  greater  fidelity, 
and  the  greater  capacity  for  the  gentler  virtues. 

It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  the  negro  should  always 
have  been  held  to  be  a  perfect  example  of  arrested 
development.  He  has  never  yet  made  a  nation  — 
he  has  never  dreamed  of  anything  greater  than  a  tribe. 
Though  he  has  for  three  thousand  years  been  in 
contact  with  other  peoples,  he  has  never  learnt  much 
—  in  any  case  he  forgets  more  quickly  than  he  learns  — 
and  consequently  he  has  very  naturally  remained  where 
he  still  is,  despised,  rejected,  and  ill-treated,  whenever 
possible.  Such,  in  a  few  words,  is  his  tragic  and 
featureless  history. 

Now,  if  this  is  still  so,  if  it  is  true  that  the  black 
man,  in  spite  of  what  his  apologists  may  allege  and 
Mr.  Booker  Washington  may  passionately  preach,  is 
the  object  of  a  common  hatred  among  all  the  higher 
races  in  the  world,  then  the  Black  Problem  must 
finally  become  the  world's  greatest  racial  problem, 
though  not,  of  course,  until  much  time  has  elapsed 
and  the  negroes  have  immensely  multiplied.  This 
problem  will  be  as  troublesome  for  the  rulers  of  the 
British  Empire  as  it  will  be  for  those  who  control 
the  destinies  of  the  great  American  Republic;  in 
fact  it  may  be  broadly  maintained  that  it  will  be  a 
mighty  problem  for  all  European  Powers  who  have 
acquired  the  rights  of  eminent  domain  in  any  of  the 
black  man's  lands. 


IV  THE   BLACK  PROBLEM  235 

For  the  black  man  is  a  great  breeder  of  men,  and 
in  a  few  scores  of  years,  when  he  has  in  the  whole 
of  the  Dark  Continent  the  same  ease  and  security  of 
Hfe  as,  for  instance,  he  has  to-day  in  the  Southern 
States  of  America  or  in  South  Africa,  he  will  be 
multiplying  prodigiously.  How  to  keep  races  pure 
from  his  contact  will  then  certainly  be  an  acute 
problem :  for  as  he  scatters  far  and  wide  he  will  leave 
—  in  spite  of  all  precautions  —  some  traces  of  his  blood. 
Nobody  really  knows  how  many  negroes  there  are 
already  in  the  world ;  it  is  roughly  calculated  that  with 
the  cross-breeds  there  are  about  one  hundred  millions. 
Accepting  this  figure  as  correct,  and  accepting  also 
the  calculation  that  White  doubles  in  eighty  years, 
Yellow  or  Brown  in  sixty  years,  but  Black  in  forty 
years,  then  it  is  evident  that  even  by  the  close  of  the 
present  century  the  Blacks  will  have  so  greatly 
multiplied  that,  like  the  Japanese  of  the  present  day, 
who  maintain  that  emigration  has  become  a  vital 
necessity  for  their  continued  existence,  they  may 
attempt  to  force  themselves  where  they  are  not  wanted. 
For  that  there  will  be  some  day  an  overflow,  an 
overspilling  of  black  men,  seems  tolerably  certain. 
By  the  end  of  the  present  century  there  should 
certainly  be  three  hundred  million  negroes  in  the 
world  —  a  number  terrifying  in  its  possibilities,  in  view 
of  certain  special  and  very  peculiar  considerations. 
Little  as  it  has  been  admitted,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  in  the  greater  part  of  Africa,  and  in  by  no 
means  a  small  portion  of  the  Americas,  there  exists 
great  potential  breeding  grounds  for  the  black  man, 
where  he  can  multiply  indefinitely  and  live  in 
happiness,  as  soon  as  there  is  greater  security.     From 


236      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

these  centres  he  will  slowly  overspill  into  the  surround- 
ing country  as  soon  as  close  packing  pushes  him  to 
such  a  course  of  action;  and  thus,  wherever  the  negro 
populates  a  region  densely,  there  will  the  nerve-centres 
of  the  problem  lie.^ 

Now  taking  first  the  case  of  the  Dark  Continent,  let 
us  glance  at  the  future.  In  less  than  a  hundred  years 
it  may  be  assumed  that  should  Europe's  overlordship 
of  Africa  remain  much  as  it  now  is,  the  black  man  will 
be  superficially  civilised  and  either  Christianised  or 
Islamized  en  masse.  The  whole  of  this  vast  continent 
will  then  be  intersected  by  tens  of  thousands  of  miles  of 
railway — if  not  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles  —  and 
there  will  have  grown  up  many  other  material  improve- 
ments, bringing  this  great  region  into  very  different 
relations  with  the  rest  of  the  world  from  those  which 
exist  at  present.  Though,  of  course,  it  is  impossible  to 
predict  how  the  white  colonies  at  each  extremity  of  this 
great  continent  will  influence  and  shape  such  develop- 
ments, it  seems  probable  that  they  will  be  fully 
occupied  in  grappling  with  their  own  domestic  problems 
— that  is,  with  problems  which  fall  within  the  limits  of 
their  own  particular  spheres  —  leaving  in  the  future,  as 
they  do  to-day,  to  mere  handfuls  of  white  administrators 
and  pioneers,  the  task  of  civilisation  elsewhere. 

Now  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  Africa  the 
densest  masses  of  population  are  found  in  the  equatorial 
zone  —  a  zone  entirely  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 

*  It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  already  there  is  the  beginning  of 
a  movement  from  the  country  north  of  the  Zambesi  River  to  the 
country  to  the  south.  In  some  not  distant  time  we  may  see  the 
strange  spectacle  of  United  South  Africa  barring  the  further  ingress 
of  the  autochthonous  race  by  the  sternest  statutes. 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  237 

continent  by  natural  boundaries.  It  is  the  western 
regions  of  this  zone,  watered  by  the  two  great  river- 
systems  of  the  west  coast,  the  Congo  and  Niger 
systems,  which  contain  probably  far  more  than  half  the 
total  population  of  Africa.  No  statistics,  which  can  be 
called  in  any  way  reliable,  exist  to  prove  what  is  the 
actual  population  in  the  Congo  State,  in  the  French 
Congo,  and  in  Nigeria  —  provinces  of  which  Belgium, 
France,  and  England  are  the  respective  suzerains;  but 
the  highest  estimates  will  certainly  allow  that  there  are 
sixty  or  seventy  million  negroes  in  this  zone.  Though 
such  estimates  are  by  no  means  generally  accepted,  an 
actual  enumeration  might  prove  them  not  far  wrong. 
It  is,  in  any  case,  on  the  coasts  of  this  great  region  that 
the  slave-dealers  in  days  gone  by  began  to  collect  their 
cargoes  of  "black  ivory,"  giving  to  the  Gulf  of  Guinea 
a  grim  reputation  which  yet  remains;  and  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  the  region  attracted  this  gloomy 
activity  just  because  of  the  surplus  of  human  flesh  and 
blood  which  even  then  existed.^     Though  the  scramble 

^  Some  light  is  thrown  on  the  manner  in  which  the  eighteenth 
century  viewed  world-commerce  and  traffic  by  looking  at  the 
figures  of  the  West  African  slave-trade.  This  trade,  brought  into 
being  and  stimulated  to  an  ever  greater  degree  by  the  extraor- 
dinary value  of  American  and  West  Indian  plantations,  grew  so 
rapidly  from  the  seventeenth  century  that  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  the  annual  number  of  slaves  carried  into  the  plantations 
in  British  ships  alone  was  estimated  at  25,000.  Later  in  the  cen- 
tury—  to  be  precise,  in  1768,  1787,  and  1798  —  it  was  three  times 
estimated  at  100,000  slaves  per  annum,  British  ships  carrying  a  pro- 
portion varying  from  40  per  cent,  to  60  per  cent,  of  the  total.  The 
West  Coast  of  Africa,  though  geographically  a  part  of  Africa,  was 
then,  as  far  as  Europeans  were  concerned,  wholly  unconnected  with 
the  main  body  of  the  African  continent  and  regarded  rather  as  an 
outlying  part  of  America. 

This    immense    traffic    from    the    eastern    shores   of  the   Atlantic 


-A 


238      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

for  Africa,  precipitated  by  the  Berlin  Conference  of 
1878,  and  Bismarck's  cynical  advice  to  Europe  to  seek 
territorial  compensation  where  no  conflict  among  the 
Powers  would  be  forthcoming,  saw  these  immense 
regions  openly  invaded  by  a  new  and  more  humane 
authority  than  that  which  for  two  centuries  and  more 
had  spread  terror  from  the  coast  forts,  the  autochthonous 
races,  crouching  in  their  river-swamps  and  forests,  could 
not  be  expected  to  believe  that  the  white  man  advancing 
with  a  rifle  in  one  hand  and  a  gin-bottle  in  the  other 
was  really  only  a  symbol  of  civilisation,  and  that  the 
keynote  to  his  new  policy  was  the  hidden  Bible.  The 
fearful  scenes  of  the  slave  days,  though  long  since 
banished,  have  found  their  counterparts  in  the  more 
methodical,  but  equally  brutal  methods  of  exploitation 
sometimes  adopted  by  those  who,  because  they  are 
suzerains,  have  had  no  bowels  of  compassion  for  men 
they  denounce  as  savages. 

Now  the  progress  made  in  the  past  two  or  three 
decades  in  locking  a  European  administrative  system  on 
to  these  vast  regions  of  Equatorial  Africa,  marvellous  as 
it  has  been  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  has  not 
changed  —  nor  could  it  be  expected  to  change  —  certain 
fundamental  considerations.  The  chiefest  fact  of  these 
fundamentals  simply  is  that  while  the  white  man's 
civilisation  may  enforce  a  moral  dread  which  will  both 
greatly  diminish  cruelty  and  greatly  improve  economic 
conditions,  it  can  do  nothing  to  change  conditions  which 

was  vastly  exceeded  by  the  enormous  trade  with  Europe  from  the 
plantations,  which  gave  continuous  employment  to  thousands  of 
sail.  When  the  fisheries  off  Newfoundland,  together  with  the 
steady  flow  of  precious  metals  from  the  mines  of  Mexico  and  South 
America,  are  added,  the  picture  of  the  great  Atlantic  traffic  is 
complete. 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  239 

are  rooted  in  the  climate  and  in  the  environment,  and 
also  in  that  vast  chain  of  causation  reaching  back  to  the 
remotest  past.  All  the  curious  limitations  of  the  negro, 
both  mental  and  physical,  which  have  been  exhaus- 
tively analysed  and  laid  bare  in  a  region  where  he  is  an 
exotic  —  i.e.,  the  Southern  States  of  the  American  Union 
—  are  a  hundred  times  more  manifest  to  the  eye  of  the 
observer,  not  only  in  Equatorial  Africa,  but  indeed  all 
over  Africa.  That  he  will  progress  up  to  a  certain 
point  is  quite  certain;  but  beyond  that  point  he  will  not 
go.  And  as  a  recognition  of  his  peculiar  nature  is 
forced  on  himself,  as  he  understands  what  he  really  is, 
instinctively  he  will  increasingly  segregate  himself 
against  the  white  man,  and  only  welcome  as  friends  and 
allies  those  of  the  same  ebony  hue.  That  is  how  the 
negro  will  and  must  act.  And  as  it  is  quite  certain  that 
his  numbers  are  enormously  increasing  now,  the  very 
deadweight  of  all  these  countless  hostile  millions  will  be 
an  incubus  which  no  white  nation  — or  combination  of 
nations  —  will  willingly  carry.  That  is  to  say,  though 
certain  things  have  changed,  fundamentally  matters 
remain  where  they  were  in  the  slave-dealing  days. 

This  may  lead  some  day  to  the  most  important 
results.  For  as  this  feeling  of  colour  increases,  and  the 
racial  solidarity  of  the  black  man  becomes  more  marked, 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suggest  that  some  day  an 
entirely  different  connection  may  exist  between  the 
western  coasts  of  Africa,  and  the  eastern  coasts  of 
America,^  since  the  coasts  of  these  two  continents  are  not 

^  It  is  curious  to  remember  that  in  the  days  of  the  slave-trade 
the  West  Coast  of  Africa  was  regarded  by  white  men  as  an  out- 
lying part  of  America.  There  is  therefore  no  good  reason  why 
some  day  a  new  era  of  intercommunication  may  not  exist  between 


240      THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR         ch. 

far  distant  from  one  another,  and  communication 
between  the  two  is  easily  and  quickly  made.  Brazil, 
which  is  only  a  thousand  miles  away  from  West  Africa, 
will  most  certainly  be  forced  to  put  up  Exclusion  Laws 
such  as  would  satisfy  the  most  rabid  Californian  of 
to-day  —  that  is,  if  Brazil  is  anxious  to  do  so :  for  the 
racial  hold  the  negro  has  on  the  immense  regions  south 
of  the  Amazon  is  not  yet  appreciated.^  In  Brazil  there 
are  already  three  million  negroes  and  great  numbers  of 
negro-Indians;  and  though  emigration  from  southern 
Europe  has  of  late  years  been  very  large,  so  bad  is  the 
climate  in  large  parts  of  the  country  that  the  colour 
future  of  immense  regions  remains  very  uncertain. 
Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  ten  million  negroes 
of  the  Southern  States  of  America  may,  in  a  hundred 
years,  have  grown  to  forty  millions,  and  the  so-called 
Black  Belt  of  to-day  will  then  be  truly  black.  And  as 
it  may  be  further  assumed  that  the  tension  between 
whites  and  blacks  will  everywhere  tend  to  increase, 
rather  than  to  decrease,  as  close-packing  grows  more 
marked  and  mutual  weaknesses  are  better  understood, 
the  blacks  in  the  American  Continent  may  have  taken 
cognisance  of  the  fact  that  hundreds  of  millions  of  their 
brethren  in  the  African  Continent  are  rapidly  going 
through  a  process  of  civilisation  which  will  enable  them 

the  coloured  belt  in  the  American  Continent  and  this  region. 
Stranger  things  have  happened  before  now. 

^  This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  the  black 
problem,  for  in  Brazil  to-day  there  is  practically  no  race  feeling  or 
hatred  for  the  black.  The  Portuguese,  always  the  most  indifferent 
of  all  white  men  about  cross-breeding,  have  mingled  their  blood 
more  freely  with  dark-skinned  races  than  even  the  Spaniards  have 
done;  and  even  in  the  Brazil  of  to-day,  to  have  a  black  family  is 
nothing  of  a  disgrace  for  a  white  man. 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  241 

to  know  their  true  relations  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 
The  community  of  interests,  which  is  bound  to  arise 
when  racial  distinctions  have  necessarily  become  much 
sharper  than  at  present,  will  give  rise  to  strange  move- 
ments which  no  one  can  now  even  foretell;  for  the 
black  man,  with  his  veneer  of  civilisation,  his  sense  of 
inferiority,  and  his  racial  strength,  all  working  to 
produce  in  him  a  feeling  of  animosity  and  suspicion 
towards  other  men,  must  combine  with  men  of  his  own 
colour  and  try  to  become  free. 

Previous  experience  does  not  count  for  much,  as 
some  would  like  to  think,  when  grappling  with  the 
menace  underlying  the  great  negro  problem  throughout 
the  world.  The  experiment  of  Liberia,  for  instance, 
came  far  too  soon  to  mean  anything  at  all;  it  was 
attempted  in  an  age  when  philanthropy  thought  that 
vague  abstract  principles  could  be  applied  to  racial 
questions  irrespective  of  the  particular  nature  of  those 
problems.  It  attempted  to  do  by  kindness  (which  is 
only  a  fleeting  emotion)  that  which  can  only  be 
performed  by  brute  movements  grounded  in  human 
nature  —  that  is,  by  the  use  of  force  called  into  action 
by  an  imperative  demand,  such  as  the  necessity  to  find 
elbow-room,  to  find  food.  To  beat  aside  those  who 
would  stay  such  natural  movements  by  mere  arguments 
is  a  very  natural  corollary. 

Following  this  line  of  thought,  it  is  somehow  not 
impossible  to  believe  that  one  day  the  West  Indies  may 
be  invaded  by  great  swarms  of  black  men,  unless  they 
are  stopped  by  force.  It  is  also  quite  conceivable  that 
a  general  intercourse  such  as  to-day  exists  between 
England  and  Canada,  and  England  and  Australia, 
may  one  day  exist  between  the  blacks  of  America  and 


242       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

the  blacks  of  Africa.  There  will  be  societies  and 
unions  and  churches  and  other  bonds  —  all  tending  to 
accentuate  the  solidarity  of  the  negro  race  —  all  tending 
to  range  the  race  in  a  rival  camp.  Undoubtedly,  in 
these  future  days,  fresh  efforts  will  have  to  be  made  to 
hold  the  negro  in  check  and  to  confine  him  in  such  a 
manner  that  he  will  not  be  able  to  drag  down  the  white 
races.  Humanity  has  hitherto  only  concerned  itself 
with  such  debatable  themes  as  the  ill-treatment  of  blacks 
by  whites.  The  day  may  not  be  far  distant  when  men 
will  pause,  and  openly  wonder  whether  in  the  past  they 
have  been  well  advised  to  interfere  at  all  with  solutions 
which,  though  barbarous,  are  only  so  because  men,  when 
they  are  face  to  face  with  elementary  facts,  can  only  use 
elementary  methods. 

In  the  near  future,  however,  it  is  not  so  much  in  such 
possible  trans-oceanic  activity  that  the  negro  is  to  be 
feared,  as  in  his  activity  in  Africa  and  Arabistan  in  com- 
bination with  other  races.  In  other  words  the  political 
activity  of  the  negro  where  he  is  at  home  is  a  far  greater 
cause  for  anxiety  than  his  infiltration  into  regions  from 
which  he  can  easily  be  excluded  for  a  very  long 
time  by  artificial  measures.  It  is,  indeed,  where  the 
negro  stands  entrenched  on  his  own  soil  that  he  is 
really  to  be  feared. 

Already,  it  is  well  to  note,  South  Africa  has  its  own 
ominous  colour  problem,  arising  from  the  fact  that  in 
this  newest  of  nations  in  the  making,  though  there  are 
many  whites,  there  are  far  more  blacks,  who  withal 
retain  strong  tribal  organisations  and  a  strong  sense  of 
kinship.  And  furthermore  it  is  necessary  to  note  once 
again  that  while  this  problem  is  not  yet  as  vexatious  as 
the  problem  in  the  Southern  States  of  America,  it  is 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  243 

bound  to  become  more  and  more  complicated  from 
year  to  year,  and  be  in  the  end  a  very  different  menace 
from  the  American  menace.  In  North  America,  come 
what  may,  the  whites  will  always  have  a  large  numerical 
superiority;  in  South  Africa  the  position  will  always 
be  exactly  the  reverse.  To-day,  in  South  Africa,  there 
are  but  one  million  whites  settled  among  six  or  seven 
millions  of  the  Bantu  race  —  a  race  which,  because  it  is 
of  mixed  origin,  is  far  superior  to  the  pure  negro  of 
the  tropics,  if  there  remain  to-day  any  really  pure 
negroes.  The  probabilities  are  that  this  proportion  of 
seven  to  one  in  South  Africa  will  be  steadily  maintained 
in  spite  of  all  white  emigration,  since  the  Bantu  race 
breeds  very  much  faster  than  any  white  race  and 
should  actually  increase  its  fecundity  as  the  ravages  of 
disease  are  steadily  lessened.  That  there  is  much  latent 
anxiety  regarding  the  future  is  conclusively  proved  by 
the  frank  and  whole-hearted  discrimination  against  the 
native  in  the  newly-consummated  Union  of  South  Africa. 
Where  it  has  been  possible,  the  ascendency  of  the  white 
race  has  been  secured  in  the  most  uncompromising 
terms,  whilst  the  proper  native  policy  has  been  defined 
as  the  policy  of  segregation.  And  yet,  as  will  shortly  be 
shown.  South  Africa,  with  all  its  difficulties,  will  be  far 
more  able  to  handle  the  black  problem  than  will 
the  more  northerly  latitudes  of  the  Dark  Continent. 
The  white  man,  where  he  is  entrenched  in  strong 
communities,  can  only  be  conquered  by  other  races  by 
total  extermination  —  that  has  been  often  clearly  proved. 
But  in  regions  where  he  is  merely  an  administrator  and 
leader,  as  he  is  in  Central  Africa,  in  Northern  Africa, 
and  in  the  coast  regions,  the  problem  is  quite  different. 
Here,  then,  is  the  greatest  danger  of  the  future. 


244       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

For  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  whilst  it  is  an 
undoubted  fact  that,  racially  considered,  the  black  man 
is  a  type  of  arrested  development,  it  is  also  a  fact  that 
political  pressure  and  the  example  of  civilisation  around 
him  do  slowly  force  him  to  a  great  simulated  improve- 
ment, if  nothing  else.  This  is  the  case  in  South  Africa 
as  in  America ;  and  even  along  the  coasts  of  Africa  a 
definite  advance  has  already  been  made.  It  may  be 
that  once  the  European  lever  is  removed  —  as  it  was  at 
the  time  of  the  French  Revolution  in  Hayti  by  the 
successes  of  the  formidable  guerilla  chief  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture  —  the  negro  relapses  into  his  semi- 
barbarous  state;  but  that  does  not  detract  from  the 
fact  that  so  long  as  he  feels  the  pressure  around  him 
and  sees  the  example  of  a  higher  civilisation,  he 
inevitably  improves.  In  America,  so  great  has  been 
the  progress,  that  negroes  fully  believe  that  were  it  only 
possible  for  them  to  do  away  with  the  white  man's 
discrimination  and  the  white  man's  contempt,  in  a  very 
short  while  they  would  earn  for  their  race  a  totally 
new  title.  Coloured  professional  men  of  all  sorts  are 
becoming  so  numerous,  coloured  labourers  have  so 
improved  where  they  have  been  educated,  that  it  seems 
that  there  is  good  ground  for  this  optimism.  And 
though  America  is  of  course  an  exceptional  case,  what 
is  proved  true  there  will  be  proved  true  elsewhere.  In 
the  past  it  has  been  possible  for  the  negro  to  slip  back; 
in  the  future  it  will  become  less  easy  for  him  to  do 
so,  since  the  vast  growth  in  the  world's  population, 
with  those  new  phenomena,  close-packing,  close-inter- 
communication and  modern  industrialism,  will  tend  to 
hold  him  tight  in  a  manner  which  has  not  occurred 
before. 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  245 

But  though  a  steady  cultural  improvement  is 
increasingly  the  order  of  the  day,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  this  means  any  diminution  of  the  dangers  of 
the  black  problem.  On  the  contrary,  as  in  certain 
regions  of  the  world  the  negro  becomes  increasingly 
intelligent  and  his  veneer  of  civilisation  more  evident, 
he  must  have  an  increasing  influence  on  his  fellow-men 
—  an  influence  which  cannot  be  for  the  good  of  the 
white  races.  At  first  this  influence  may  be  counted  on 
to  show  itself  in  ways  which  will  only  occasion  comment 
from  the  far-seeing;  but  as  this  man  of  colour  becomes 
increasingly  aware  of  his  unalterable  racial  or  colour 
solidarity  —  as  well  as  so  numerous  that  for  political 
reasons  his  opinion  will  have  to  be  paid  attention  to  —  he 
will  be  recognized  as  a  real  danger.  For  he  will  finally 
constitute  himself,  or  try  to  constitute  himself,  an 
imperium  in  imperio,  wherever  he  lives  among  large 
communities  of  other  men;  and  he  may  even  demand  as 
his  right  that  just  as  he  is  restricted  in  many  ways  by 
the  white  man,  so  shall  he  restrict  the  white  man  in 
certain  other  ways.  For  just  as  surely  as  men  get  tired 
of  being  led  like  sheep,  so  do  they  as  inevitably  demand 
that  the  penalties  which  are  enforced  against  them  shall 
be  enforced  against  others.  In  other  words,  the  negro 
will  not  only  demand  his  own  reservations,  his  own 
lands,  his  own  communities;  but  he  will  clamour  for  a 
policy  of  retaliation. 

Fortunately,  such  black  dangers  are  far  off^  rather  than 
near;  they  cannot  possibly  have  much  importance  for 
the  white  races  until  the  negro  race  is  far  more  numer- 
ous, far  better  educated,  and  far  better  organised  than  it 
can  become  at  any  time  during  the  present  century. 
But  in  Africa  itself  there  is  another  more  dread  possi- 


246       THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR        ch. 

bility  which  is  quite  a  different  question;  and  to  a 
consideration  of  this  grave  matter,  in  which  the  faith  of 
Islam  bulks  so  large,  we  must  now  pass. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  nothing  really  improves  the 
negro  except  one  of  the  two  causes  —  cross-breeding, 
or  catching  hold  of  some  foreign  but  superior  creed. 
In  America  it  is  largely  due  to  a  primitive  form  of 
Christianity  that  successes  have  been  won  which  would 
never  have  been  possible  had  the  negro  simply  retained 
his  own  horrible  and  debasing  rites.  In  certain 
favoured  parts  of  Africa  —  notably  in  Uganda  —  this 
same  Christianising  process  is  going  on  apace,  though 
curiously  enough  it  appears  to  make  little  advance  in 
South  Africa,  the  reason  possibly  being  that  the  Bantu 
race  is  not  a  pure  breed  of  negro,  but  a  cross-breed,  and 
that  a  more  combative,  a  more  militant,  religion  is 
better  suited  to  him.  In  this  respect  the  Kaffir  is 
exactly  similar  to  the  cross-breeds  of  the  Soudan, 
who  must  always  embrace  Islamism  in  preference  to 
Christianity,  and  who  have  some  fine  qualities  similar 
to  the  Zulu  —  matchless  courage  and  superb  physique. 

Now,  it  is  precisely  with  such  races  that  the  greatest 
black  danger  lies  —  especially  if  Islam  shows  renewed 
vitality  and  begins  once  more  its  triumphant  march 
across  the  waste  places  of  the  world. ^  For  it  is  a  well- 
proved  fact  that  those  negroes  who  have  embraced  Islam 
at  once  show  greater  manliness  and  greater  aspirations, 

^  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend,  in  his  book  Asia  and  Europe,  has 
many  excellent  remarks  on  this  subject  which  the  writer  would 
like  to  reproduce,  were  there  only  space  for  them.  As  it  is,  the 
writer  has  not  hesitated  to  use  certain  of  his  conclusions,  as  he  knows 
that  they  are  true;  and  none  of  these  are  truer  than  the  one  in  which 
this  gifted  writer  declares  that  Islam  gives  the  negro  more  indepen- 
dence and  a  better  welcome  than  Christianity. 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  247 

and  could  no  doubt  form  strong  States  and  organise 
armies  and  obey  laws,  if  the  proper  incentives  existed 
and  the  proper  leaders  arose.  These  are  admittedly  the 
first  steps  towards  winning  a  higher  and  more  abiding 
civilisation  —  a  civilisation  which  would  be  very  different 
from  the  artificial  culture  of  Europe;  and  the  taking  of 
these  first  steps  would  automatically  give  birth  to  a  black 
problem  very  different  from  that  which  exists  in  the 
United  States,  where  the  black  man  is  simply  a  copyist 
of  the  white  man,  and  where,  in  the  last  resort,  he  can 
not  only  be  crushed  into  subservience  by  weight  of 
numbers  and  superior  skill,  but  be  confined  to  low-lying 
swampy  regions,  where  the  white  man  will  not  readily 
go.     In  Africa  alone  is  the  negro  fearful. 

For  when  the  black  man  has  won  a  real  sense  of 
nationality  —  the  nationality  of  colour  —  a  sense  which 
he  could  very  easily  acquire  in  Africa  in  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent form  from  any  he  could  acquire  in  white  man's 
lands,  he  will  undoubtedly  commence  organising  himself 
on  a  basis  he  has  hitherto  not  dreamed  of.  And  should 
a  single  strong  Black  State  ever  arise  in  Africa  —  allied 
to  Arab  tribal  organisations  —  it  requires  no  stretch 
of  imagination  to  believe  that  all  Africa  could  soon  be 
induced  to  join  such  a  holy  colour-bond,  of  which  the 
watchword  would  be:  "Independence  from  the  White 
Master."  That  there  already  exists  a  curious  and  little 
understood  colour  union,  uniting  all  Africa,  is  a  fact 
which  has  from  time  to  time  seriously  disconcerted  those 
who  seek  to  pierce  below  the  surface  and  view  matters 
in  the  limelight  of  primitive  facts.  It  is  now  nearly  a 
decade  since  the  news  of  a  great  British  reverse  was 
mysteriously  transmitted  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Africa  with  a  speed  almost  rivalling  that  of  the  telegraph. 


248       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

by  a  method  which  is  as  common  to  all  Africa  as  the 
telegraph  is  to  all  Europe,  and  which  is  nevertheless 
very  imperfectly  understood.^  All  Africa  trembled 
violently  at  the  news  of  the  British  reverse;  and  thinking 
men  throughout  the  world,  no  matter  what  their  politics 
were,  suddenly  dimly  understood  what  England's  debacle 
might  really  mean.  In  that  forecast  of  a  greater  issue, 
for  a  moment  the  petty  rivalries  of  the  hour  were 
obscured. 

For  the  European  Powers,  having  virtually  put  an  end 
to  the  great  tribal  wars  of  Africa,  which  for  countless 
centuries  restrained  all  great  increase  in  the  population; 
having  prohibited  the  slave-trade  and  virtually  made 
that  prohibition  effective;  having  taught  far  and  wide 
the  prevention  and  cure  of  disease  —  having  done  these 
and  many  other  things,  may  soon  find  that  they  have 
only  prepared  the  ground  for  another  sowing.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  to-day,  in  many  parts  of  Africa 
that  are  generally  classed  as  heathen,  Moslem  influence 
—  always  an  anti-European  influence  —  is  strong  and  is 
rapidly  gaining  in  strength.  In  Southern  Nigeria,  for 
instance,  where  Christian  missionaries  have  for  some 
time  been  at  work,  nearly  all  the  native  rulers  are  under 
Moslem  influence.  The  improvement  which  the 
teaching  of  Islam  brings  is  so  remarkable  that  English 
officialdom,  here  as  in  India,  instinctively  protects  the 
Arab  creed;  and  American  missionaries  have  lately 
bitterly  complained  not  only  that  they  are  now  pro- 

^  This  is  believed  to  be  the  system  of  the  big-drum  signals. 
Telegraphing  on  the  lokoli  (native  drum)  is  possible  up  to  a 
distance  of  15  miles,  and  messages  can  be  repeated  so  rapidly 
when  a  region  is  on  the  qui  vive,  that  a  signal  has  been  sent 
200  miles  in  a  single  hour! 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  249 

hibited  from  entering  towns  that  are  distinctly 
Mahommedan,  but  that  the  native  rulers  themselves 
refuse  to  allow  them  to  acquire  land  in  their  principalities 
or  in  any  way  exercise  influence.^  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  latter-day  Mahommedanism  is  steadily 
flowing  southwards  in  Africa;  and  there  can  also  be 
little  doubt  that  when  the  shock  of  inevitable  events 
pushes  Islamism  out  of  Europe,  and  perhaps  out  of 
Asia  Minor,  it  will  be  reinvigorated  in  regions  where 
it  now  tends  to  languish,  and  this  reinvigoration  will 
affect  all  Africa. 

For  this  should  be  well  noted.  Though  the  negro 
may  revolt  more  or  less  successfully  in  the  many 
differents  parts  of  the  world  where  he  has  been  trans- 
planted, with  a  very  good  chance  of  temporary  success, 
it  is  certain  that  it  is  only  in  his  own  country,  and  in 
combination  with  Islamism  and  its  great  representatives, 
the  Arabs,  that  any  permanent  advantage  can  accrue 
to  him.  Omdurman  may  seem  like  the  last  word  on 
this  subject;  but  Omdurman  was  in  reality  only  a 
first  word,  and  a  very  small  first  word  —  the  tentative 
expression  of  something  which  may  be  one  day 
attempted  on  a  colossal  scale.  The  time  must  come 
in  Africa  as  in  Asia,  when  the  autochthonous  races  will 
force  a  new  settlement,  no  matter  how  much  the  white 

^  It  is  curious  to  remember  that  Islam  has  travelled  long  ago 
across  the  Indian  Ocean  and  formed  a  stronghold  in  the  island  of 
Java;  and  not  only  that,  but  is  well  entrenched  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  where  the  Moros  are  entirely  Mahommedan.  The 
present  writer  has  recently  had  many  remarkable  conversations 
with  high  Chinese  Moslems  —  conversations  which  have  shown 
not  only  that  there  is  much  intercommunication  between  co- 
religionists in  the  Far  East,  but  that  regular  communication  is  kept 
up  with  Arabistan  and  Turkey. 


250       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

man  —  looking  at  the  present  miserable  position  of 
Africans  —  may  argue  that  that  is  not  only  absurd,  but 
wholly  impossible.  Abyssinia  —  which  is  not  Moslem 
—  has  conclusively  proved  that,  within  certain  limits,  the 
white  man  is  already  prepared  to  stay  his  hand  in 
Africa  and  avoid  conflicts  the  results  of  which  are  out 
of  all  proportion  to  their  cost.  And,  similarly,  the 
experience  of  both  France  and  Spain  in  Morocco,  in 
spite  of  all  that  has  been  misrepresented  about  the 
success  of  these  two  Powers,  is  in  another  way  equally 
ominous. 

Yet  in  this  there  is  nothing  which  is  really  unex- 
pected. The  manner  in  which  people  used  to  speak  a 
decade  or  two  ago  of  the  holy  man,  Senoussi,  shows  that 
this  dread  of  an  all-Mahommedan  movement  —  this 
linking  of  blacks  and  browns  —  has  long  been  present 
in  the  minds  of  the  prescient.  It  is  quite  beside  the 
question  to  argue  that  Italy  abandoned  her  Abyssinian 
campaign,  after  being  crushingly  defeated,  not  from 
fear,  but  from  motives  of  economy,  and  that  the  same 
thing  is  true  of  both  France  and  Spain  in  Morocco; 
for  this  does  not  detract  one  whit  from  the  force  of 
the  argument  not  only  that  one  day  it  may  not  be 
worth  while  to  oppose  the  African  in  Africa,  but  that 
such  a  policy  would  be  so  suicidal  that  no  electorate 
would  endorse  it. 

Undoubtedly  to-day  the  real  barrier  to  such  African 
uprisings  has  simply  become :  England  in  Egypt,  and 
what  that  occupation  stands  for.^     For  though  France 

^  It  is  well  to  remember  that  so  far  as  Africa  has  been  leavened 
from  without,  the  leaven  has  come  from  Asia  rather  than  Europe  — 
European  culture  even  in  modern  times  has  only  affected  the  surface 
of  things,   whilst   Asiatic-Semitic    culture    has   profoundly   affected 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  251 

in  North  Africa  is  a  far  greater  power  than  England  — 
though  her  great  colonies  have  vast  importance  —  the 
peculiar  geography  of  the  Black  Continent  confines 
French  possessions  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  them 
far  less  susceptible  to  great  colour-shocks  than  is  the 
case  with  those  regions  where  Britain  stands  as  the 
suzerain  Power.  It  is  the  Arab  —  the  roving  Arab  — 
who  is  France's  especial  enemy,  and  the  great  desert  to 
the  south  of  the  more  valuable  French  possessions  is  a 
more  effective  bar  than  millions  of  soldiery.  But 
further  to  the  east  the  great  roadway  of  the  Nile 
communicates  with  the  heart  of  Africa  —  with  the 
Congo  States,  the  great  lakes,  the  high  plateaux  —  and 
the  existence  of  this  roadway,  which  will  soon  have  its 
road  of  steel,  makes  it  quite  possible  for  vast  move- 
ments to  be  easily  commenced,  and  steadily  persevered 
in,  the  very  moment  some  organisation  has  united 
the  men  of  Africa  to  a  common  cause.  It  is  England's 
duty  to  guard  against  these  movements,  because  in 
Africa  (as  in  Asia  in  more  primitive  days)  she  stands 
as  the  great  representative  of  the  principle  of  beneficent 
white  conquest,  which  though  it  wrests  the  right  of 
eminent  domain  from  native  rulers,  though  it  becomes 
in  the  end,  as  it  is  to-day  in  India,  a  plain  usurpation, 
still    leaves   the    people    and    their   cherished    customs 

Africa  since  the  days  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians. 
Even  the  camel  is  not  a  native  of  Africa,  but  was  brought  in  by  the 
Arabs. 

The  historian  Gibbon  says  of  Egypt:  "By  its  situation  that 
celebrated  kingdom  is  included  within  the  immense  peninsula  of 
Africa,  but  it  is  accessible  only  on  the  side  of  Asia,  whose 
revolutions,  in  almost  every  period  of  history,  Egypt  has  humbly 
obeyed."  —  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Chap.  I. 

Is  not  this  a  remarkably  apposite  remark  for  the  statesmen  of 
the  twentieth  century  to  remember .? 


252       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

untouched,  and  is,  undoubtedly,  during  a  strictly  limited 
period  of  probation,  a  good  and  honest  and  very  helpful 
rule.^ 

^  Here  is  a  very  complete  statement  of  England's  commanding 
position  vis-a-vis  Africa : 

"There  is  no  more  striking  feature  in  the  history  of  the 
British  Empire,  no  point  more  characteristic  of  the  race,  than  the 
extent  to  which  Great  Britain  holds,  so  to  speak,  the  keys  of 
Africa.  On  the  north,  Gibraltar,  all  but  an  island,  commands 
the  entrance  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  empire  of  Morocco,  where 
Tangier  was  also  once  in  British  keeping.  Malta  lies  over 
against  the  central  promontory  of  the  North  African  coast, 
watching  the  site  which  in  the  days  of  old  gave  Carthage  so  much 
strength  and  so  great  a  name.  Cyprus  is  not  too  far  from  the  Suez 
Canal  to  be  reckoned  as  in  a  sense  an  outpost  of  Africa, 
although  the  present  British  occupation  of  Egypt  has  for  the  time 
being  diminished  its  importance  in  this  respect.  Aden,  Perim, 
Socotra,  and  the  Somali  Protectorate  keep  North-Eastern  Africa 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea  secure  for  British  trade.  Next  come 
Mombasa  and  the  great  territory  which  was  secured  to  Great  Britain 
by  the  Imperial  British  East  Africa  Company,  and  which  stretches 
from  the  sea  to  the  inland  lakes. 

"In  mid-ocean,  but  yet  within  African  limits,  the  beautiful 
Seychelles  Archipelago,  with  its  harbour  of  Mahe,  is  a  British 
dependency.  Lower  down  and  close  to  the  mainland  coast,  the 
island  of  Zanzibar,  now  under  direct  British  protection,  is  still,  as 
it  has  ever  been,  a  great  emporium  of  East  African  trade.  Further 
south  again,  treaty  arrangements  with  Portugal  secure  access  by 
the  Zambesi  and  Pungwe  rivers  from  the  coast  to  British  Central 
Africa,  and  to  the  plateaux  of  Mashonaland  and  Matabeleland,  won 
by  the  British  South  Africa  Company. 

"Out  at  sea  lies  the  British  colony  of  Mauritius  with  its  invaluable 
harbour  of  Port  Louis,  perhaps  the  best  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  a  strong- 
hold and  coaling  station  on  the  direct  line  from  the  Cape  to  India. 
Then  comes  the  living  place  of  English  in  Africa,  the  south- 
ern peninsula,  whose  coast  is  all  British  from  above  Sordwana 
Point  on  the  eastern  to  the  mouth  of  the  Orange  river  on  the 
western  coast,  and  whose  inland  frontier  has  now  been  carried  far 
into  the  interior  to  territories  already  named.  Going  up  the 
western   coast  we   find   Walfisch    Bay,   the   one   harbour   on   many 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  253 

But  in  the  natural  order  of  things  the  same  move- 
ment that  is  now  going  on  in  Asia  must  one  day 
commence  in  Africa,  as  we  have  already  said ;  and  when 
it  does  commence  it  will  bode  no  good  for  the  white  man, 
since  Africa  is  not  Asia  and  can  never  show  the  same 
spirit.  Furthermore,  the  white  man,  whilst  he  is  doubt- 
less convinced  that  he  is  now  tightening  his  hold  on 
Africa  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  is  really  doing  nothing 
of  the  sort  —  save  where  he  is  actually  settled  on  the 
soil,  as  he  is  in  South  Africa  and  in  small  portions  of 
Algeria,  and  where,  by  so  locking  himself  to  the  soil,  he 
identifies  himself  permanently  with  such  regions.  Else- 
where his  claims  to  dominion  rest  on  the  slenderest 
foundations  or  no  foundations  at  all;  he  is  only 
administering  vast  regions  because  the  African  has  yet  no 
reason  to  resist  such  administration.  Therefore,  just  as 
the  'eighties  of  the  last  century  saw  the  "scramble" 
in  Africa  commence,  so  may  some  decade  of  the  present 
century  see  the  "  scuttle "  in  Africa  commence. 
Received  opinions  are  for  the  moment  completely  against 
such  a  possibility :  but  received  opinions  are  generally 
based  on  old  and  misleading  data,  and  in  the  modern 
world  the  greatest  changes  occur  so  quickly  that  it  is 

miles  of  barren  coast,  held  by  the  Cape  Colony.  Further  north, 
the  islands  of  St.  Helena  and  Ascension  are  British.  In  the 
angle  of  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  the  Niger  Protectorates  command 
the  mouth  and  lower  basin  of  the  greatest  river  of  West  Africa.  Next 
come  Lagos,  the  Gold  Coast,  and  Sierra  Leone,  island,  coast 
stations,  and  peninsula,  with  a  background  of  protected  territories; 
and  lastly,  at  the  mouth  and  on  the  lower  waters  of  the  Gambia, 
near  the  westernmost  point  of  Africa,  the  English  still  hold,  under 
the  guise  of  a  Crown  Colony,  the  earliest  scene  of  their  West 
African  trade.  Thus  do  British  possessions  encircle  Africa." 
—  Lucas :  Historical  Geography  of  the  British  Colonies,  Vol.  Ill, 
page  7. 


254       THE   CONFLICT  OF   COLOUR        ch. 

often  only  after  the  event  that  men  become  wise. 
Commodore  Perry,  for  one,  would  never  have  believed 
that  Japan  would  beat  Russia,  annex  Korea,  dominate 
Manchuria,  and  openly  threaten  the  political  existence 
of  China  in  something  less  than  half  a  century 
from  the  time  when,  quaking  at  the  sight  of  the 
ships  in  Tokyo  Bay,  she  suddenly  decided  herself  to  use, 
as  soon  as  possible,  the  armed   arguments  of  Europe. 

The  re-shaping  of  the  Far  East  commenced  the  re- 
shaping of  the  Middle  East  and  the  Near  East.  The 
force  of  the  present  movement  has  spent  itself  for  the 
time  being  on  the  shores  of  the  Nile  and  the  Bosphorus, 
because  the  times  are  not  yet  ripe  for  the  movement  to  go 
any  farther.  But  the  next  great  shock  in  Asia  will 
travel  much  farther  and  will  produce  much  more  abiding 
results;  and  as  that  next  shock  will  certainly  come, 
unless  very  wise  counsels  prevail,  during  the  lifetime  of 
the  present  generation,  it  may  be  assumed  as  a  fact 
that  one  day  the  white  nations  will  have  to  fight  again 
for  their  supremacy  in  Africa  on  a  new  basis,  just  as 
they  are  already  beginning  to  fight  for  their  supremacy 
in  Asia  on  a  new  basis,  while  still  pretending  that 
nothing  in  the  past  ten  years  has  really  been  changed. 

For  as  the  silent  struggle  in  armaments  in  Europe 
goes  on,  and  strength  is  accumulated  for  an  Armageddon 
which  should  never  be  contemplated,  the  watchful 
Asiatic  and  the  stirring  African  understand  more  clearly 
the  meaning  of  the  dread  words  which  are  so  constantly 
intoned,  "Might  is  Right."  And  when  it  comes 
down  to  a  question  of  butcher's  work,  the  Arab  and 
the  cross-breed,  as  well  as  the  Zulu,  have  nothing  to 
learn.  They  require  only  weapons  and  organisation. 
The  marvellous  battle  of  Yakusa,  which  Mr.  Meredith 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  255 

Townsend  does  well  to  quote  as  an  example  of  future 
possibilities  —  that  fight  fought  in  a.d.  634,  which 
prostrated  Heraclius  and  deprived  the  Eastern  Empire 
of  Syria,  may  yet  be  dupHcated;  and  what  the  picked 
Roman  legions,  aided  by  vast  clouds  of  auxiliaries, 
found  themselves  unable  to  do,  modern  white  troops 
may  find  themselves  equally  incompetent  to  accomplish. 
It  is  true  that  Arabs  and  not  negroes  formed  the  bulk  of 
the  assailants  who  utterly  broke  the  Roman  legions  in 
that  earth-shaking  contest;  but  the  English  have 
already  shown  that  discipline  and  arms  make  the  once 
despised  Egyptian  fellah  the  equal  of  the  Baggara  Arab; 
and  what  is  true  of  one  man  is  true  of  another.  Om- 
durman  may  seem  the  modern  counterpart  of  south 
battles;  and  yet  it  is  quite  clear  to  political  students  that 
that  battle,  fierce  as  it  undoubtedly  was,  so  far  from 
being  a  decisive  battle  of  far-reaching  importance  was 
only  a  very  local  affair.  Nor  is  it  wise  to  forget  just  now 
that,  though  the  collapse  was  ultimately  complete,  the 
issue  trembled  in  the  balance  in  a  most  disturbing  way. 
It  is  not  a  Mahdi  preaching  a  Jehad  who  is  to  be 
feared,  until  the  creation  of  solid  States  has  preceded  the 
devastating  shock  of  battles. 

It  may  be  argued  that  all  this  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  black  question  proper,  since  the  prime  movers  in 
any  uprising  of  Africa  must  still  be  Arabs  in  the  future, 
just  as  they  have  always  been  the  prime  movers  in  the 
past.  Yet  this  is  just  why  it  has  everything  to  do  with 
the  problem;  for  the  building  of  railways,  the  cutting 
of  roads,  the  improvement  of  communications  and 
conditions  generally,  the  spread  of  industrialism  —  in  a 
word,  the  spread  of  the  material  products  of  European 
civilisation  —  instead  of  binding  the  man  of  Africa  to  the 


256       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

white  man,  as  many  appear  to  believe,  will  merely 
educate  him  to  a  sense  of  his  real  position,  just  as  the 
Asiatic  has  already  been  so  educated,  and  incline  him 
towards  those  who  are  racially  not  far  removed  from 
him,  and  who,  because  they  understand  him  and  have 
interbred  with  him,  will  be  far  readier  than  any  other 
men  to  evolve  a  scheme  of  government  which  will 
satisfy  his  natural  cravings.  It  is  the  Arab  —  and  allied 
with  the  Arab,  possibly  later  the  Turk  —  towards  whom 
the  negro  will  inevitably  be  pushed ;  for  political  pur- 
poses the  geographical  division  between  western  Asia 
and  northern  Africa  will  in  the  future  tend  to  become 
even  slighter  than  it  has  been  in  the  past. 

Thus,  as  years  go  by,  the  Asiatic  problem  and  the 
African  problem  will  tend  to  blend  more  and  more. 
For  the  great  link  between  the  two,  the  Arab,  already 
roves  over  a  great  part  of  Africa;  and  though  his 
trading  dhow  does  not  go  much  south  of  Zanzibar,  as 
a  dealer  the  man  is  almost  ubiquitous  in  all  portions  of 
the  continent  save  the  extreme  south.  It  is  the  peculiar 
mental  bent  of  the  white  man,  his  deliberate  blindness 
in  coloured  lands,  his  desire  at  all  costs  to  secure 
administrative  uniformity,  to  conform  to  received 
opinions,  which  in  the  last  analysis  invites  revolt. 
He  has  pity  for  the  weak,  but  no  sense  of  sympathy, 
no  inclination  really  to  understand  a  point  of  view  other 
than  his  own.  For  him  such  an  attitude  of  mind  is  the 
sign  of  racial  weakness  and  nothing  else.  When  —  as  in 
the  Southern  States  of  America,  in  Brazil,  in  the  West 
Indies,  in  parts  of  South  Africa  —  the  coloured  man  is 
inexorably  assigned  a  definite  place  by  mere  force  of 
numbers  or  from  other  dominant  considerations,  and  is, 
moreover,  because  of  particular  circumstances,  necessary 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  257 

for  the  prosperity  and  even  the  continued  existence  of 
the  white  man,  then  only  does  he  agree  to  accept  him 
at  a  somewhat  different  valuation;  and  regionaHsm 
received  yet  another  meaning,  and  that  regionalism 
springs  into  being  because  black  frankly  copies  white 
and  calls  him  master.  But  in  the  major  part  of  Africa 
the  black  man  will  never  try  to  make  himself  the 
closest  imitation  possible  of  the  white  man,  as  he  does 
where  he  is  an  exotic;  nor,  again,  can  he  become  half- 
white  in  his  thoughts,  as  he  perhaps  manages  to  do  in 
America.  The  African  conditions  forbid  that;  and 
because  they  forbid  it  the  problem  becomes  more  and 
more  involved. 

Still  admitting  all  this,  it  remains  to  be  said  that  the 
Christianising  of  the  negro,  weaning  him  from  the 
militant  bent  of  mind  which  he  assumes  under  Islam, 
can  still  effect  something  towards  diminishing  the 
dangers  which  have  now  been  roughly  outlined;  and 
therefore  the  Christianising  of  the  negro  will  certainly 
have  in  future  days  much  greater  political  importance 
than  it  has  now.  Africa  indeed  is  the  one  remaining 
region  in  the  world  where  the  spread  of  Christianity 
is  to  be  heartily  desired  on  every  possible  ground,  for 
much  of  Africa  is  really  virgin  soil.  If  the  negro,  in 
measure  as  he  is  civilised,  goes  towards  Islamism,  he 
must  become  a  greater  peril  than  ever;  if  he  is 
Christianised  his  destructive  strength  is  stripped  from 
him,  much  as  was  Samson's  strength  when  his  locks 
were  cut.  The  part  the  white  man  is  politically  called 
upon  to  play  in  Africa  is,  then,  the  part  of  Delilah  and 
no  other.  For  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Africa 
the  white  man  can  never  be  much  more  than  a  tempo- 
rary schoolmaster,  who  will  be  listened  to  in  proportion 


258       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

to  the  large-mindedness  he  displays  in  deahng  with 
unfamiHar  problems.  His  present  success  as  an  ad- 
ministrator has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the 
ultimate  problems  which  must  arise;  for  administrative 
ability  is  a  peculiar  mechanical  talent  which  almost  all 
white  men  have  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent  —  a  talent 
bearing  scant  relation  to  more  serious  matters,  and 
largely  consisting,  in  the  lands  of  the  coloured  man,  in 
solving  questions  of  elementary  finance  and  elementary 
justice. 

Let  us  give  an  illustration  of  this  which  will  hardly 
be  welcomed,  but  which  is  none  the  less  illuminating,  as 
it  shows  that  what  is  beneath  the  surface  is  not  changed 
by  what  is  noted  on  the  surface.  There  have  been  few 
more  able  administrators  than  Lord  Cromer  in  modern 
times;  yet  his  entire  political  policy  in  Egypt  has 
meant  nothing  at  all,  however  clever  his  finance  may 
have  been.  And  yet  it  might  have  been  very  different. 
For  when  the  so-called  "maker  of  modern  Egypt"  ar- 
rived in  that  country  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  to  under- 
take his  gigantic  task,  the  instrument  for  governing  lay 
ready  to.  his  hand  in  the  resident  Turkish  aristocracy. 
In  spite  of  the  financial  disaster  in  which  these  men  had 
plunged  the  country,  they  knew  how  to  deal  with  the 
Egyptians  in  a  way  which  Englishmen  can  never  know. 
Yet,  instead  of  setting  them  to  work  to  aid  in  the 
grand  reconstruction,  their  services  were  ignored,  and  it 
was  once  more  that  political  danger  —  the  ignorant 
young  Englishman  fresh  from  the  schools  —  who  was 
requisitioned  for  work  only  suited  to  mature  men.  The 
lesson  of  Egypt  has  travelled  very  far,  much  farther 
than    even    far-seeing    men    think;    for   coloured    men 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  259 

laugh  at  the  things  which  are  among  the  dearest  idols  of 
Europe,  and  know  that  when  those  idols  are  carried 
abroad,  the  days  of  their  existence  are  strictly  limited. 
And  this  is  perhaps  as  much  as  it  is  politic  to  say. 

To  sum  up.  For  the  white  man  the  black  problem 
may  thus  be  finally  divided  into  two  distant  halves  — 
that  is,  what  may  be  called  internal  black  problems,  and 
the  great  external  black  problem,  the  real  and  final 
problem.  The  "internal  black  problems"  are  more  or 
less  local  issues.  The  future  of  the  negro  in  America, 
of  the  native  in  Madagascar,  in  the  Philippines,  in  the 
countless  islands  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  cannot 
affect  the  progress  of  the  world  very  materially.  Here 
the  man  of  colour,  if  he  is  not  "cribbed,  cabined,  and 
confined,"  is  at  least  so  situated  that  the  white  man  can 
and  will  effectively  control  him.  In  all  these  cases  the 
black  man  has  been  either  for  longer  or  shorter  periods 
the  obedient  follower  of  the  white  man.  He  has  been 
the  white  man's  imitator,  his  henchman.  He  may 
rebel,  but  he  cannot  bring  about  a  great  and  abiding 
revolution  in  the  relations  between  the  races,  unless,  as 
was  the  case  with  the  French  in  Hayti  a  century  ago, 
vacillation  and  folly  become  the  order  of  the  day. 
Thus,  for  instance,  in  Sumatra  the  Dutch  have  been 
fighting  dark-skinned  native  tribes  for  more  than  a 
generation;  but  though  this  warfare  has  lasted  so  long, 
it  is  of  no  general  importance.  For  since  the  white 
man  commands  the  sea,  by  means  of  the  sea  he  isolates 
such  recalcitrants;  and  such  contests  have  consequently 
nothing  but  purely  local  interest. 

The  outer  problem  is  very  different.  It  is  the  great 
problem.     It  is  the  problem  of  the  future  of  all  Africa 


260       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

to  which  such  extended  reference  has  already  been 
made;  and  it  is  a  problem  which  must  be  considered  as 
it  is,  with  the  grievous  limitations  of  the  whites  steadily 
borne  in  mind.  Just  as  a  leading  British  soldier  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  north  of  India  contains  materials 
sufficient  to  shake  half-a-dozen  empires  to  their  founda- 
tions, so  does  Northern  Africa  with  its  mixture  of  negro 
and  Arab  —  not  to  speak  of  limitless  Central  Africa  — 
contain  materials  just  as  combustible  and  as  little  under- 
stood. It  is  perhaps  fortunate  for  the  world  that  no 
stagnant  Power,  but  a  virile  Power  such  as  England, 
still  stands  entrenched  on  the  banks  pf  the  Nile,  whilst 
from  the  south  men  of  the  same  confederation  reach 
towards  Central  Africa  with  their  new  white  common- 
wealth. For  even  though  England  may  be  outstripped 
in  the  frantic  race  which  has  commenced  in  Europe,  the 
new  Englands  can  never  be  outstripped;  and  the 
brawn  and  muscle  of  Canada,  Australasia  and  South 
Africa  can  always  re-adjust  the  general  balance  through- 
out the  world.  That  a  stagnant  Power  such  as  France 
should  dominate  all  North-Western  Africa  adds  to  the 
black  menace.^     The  crime  of  an  arrested  birth-rate  may 

*  The  question  of  North  Africa  —  where  France,  as  the  master 
of  Algeria,  the  protector  of  Tunis,  and  the  dominator  of  Morocco 
and  Tripoli,  is  the  white  man's  representative  —  is  from  day  to  day 
becoming  more  acute,  because,  primarily,  of  the  steady  fall  in  the 
French  birth-rate.  Thus  the  military  levies  of  France,  which  in 
1907  were  457,000  men,  have  now  fallen  to  433,000  men,  and 
statistics  show  that  within  ten  years  this  annual  number  will  be  re- 
duced to  399,000  men. 

In  these  circumstances  the  garrisoning  of  Algeria,  which  has 
a  European  population  of  three-quarters  of  a  million,  out  of  a  total 
population  of  more  than  five  million  natives  surrounded  by 
countless  millions  of  kith  and  kin  living  across  the  open  frontiers, 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  261 

be  punished  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  sands  of  the 
Sahara;  and  the  efforts  of  more  virile  races  may  be 
unavailing  to  speak  the  last  word  properly  because  of 
the  inherent  weakness  of  a  white  Power  that  owns  a 
large  portion  of  a  vast  potential  powder-magazine. 

The  total  conclusion  is  not  very  satisfactory  for  the 
European  —  far  less  satisfactory  than  it  has  been  in  the 
case  of  the  detailed  consideration  of  Asia.  The  subject 
is  to-day  too  complex,  the  details  too  confused  to  be 
properly  handled.  The  negro  must  be  conquered 
to  improve,  and  the  only  man  who  can  really  conquer 
and  improve  him  in  his  African  home  seems  to  be  the 
Arab.  The  political  future  of  the  Arab,  during  the 
present  century  at  least,  hinges  largely  on  the  future 
of  Turkey  and  the  extent  to  which  the  modern  idea  of 

is  a  grave  question;  and  the  manner  in  which  the  French  are 
now  determined  to  make  good  their  deficiency  in  white  troops  is 
highly  significant.  Senegalese  sharpshooter  battalions,  already 
extensively  employed  in  West  Africa  and  Madagascar,  are  to  be 
gradually  brought  into  North  Africa  until  a  strong  black  army 
is  locally  formed.  As  the  supply  of  Senegal  Soudanese  blacks  is 
practically  unlimited,  it  is  merely  a  question  of  training  and 
officers  to  raise,  in  the  case  of  necessity,  unlimited  forces  of  men, 
who  have  proved  their  devotion  to  their  masters  too  clearly  in 
the  past  to  leave  any  doubt  as  to  their  attitude  in  the  future.  As 
France  in  1870  did  not  hesitate  to  use  Arab  troops  in  small 
numbers  against  Germany,  it  is  quite  conceivable  that  some 
day  dozens  of  Soudanese  battalions  may  be  flung  against  the 
Teuton  if  he  dares  to  cross  the  frontiers  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 
What  vistas  does  not  this  open  up !  For  if  France  shows  her  willing- 
ness to  adopt  such  tactics,  England  will  not  linger  far  be- 
hind, and  divisions  of  Indian  troops  may  some  day  be  en- 
trained on  the  Persian  frontier  for  the  Mediterranean  coasts. 
History  will  be  repeating  itself,  and  the  balance  of  power  main- 
tained by  methods  which  were  familiar  in  the  days  of  the  Roman 
Empire. 


262       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

a  State,  with  all  that  it  implies,  can  be  diffused  over 
the  vast  Moslem  regions  which  still  remain  in  a  con- 
dition of  solution. 

But  this  much  can  be  said  —  that  far  more  savagery 
must  be  expected  in  this  quarter  of  the  coloured  world 
than  in  any  other  part.  This  is  the  one  region  where 
no  mercy  need  be  expected,  where  the  old  Crusader's 
idea  is  still  a  useful  beacon.  The  need  for  establishing 
an  Asiatic  balance  of  power  which  shall  exist  inde- 
pendent of  Europe,  a  need  already  so  strongly  urged 
in  these  pages,  becomes  more  pressing  when  one  realises 
how  much  in  all  Africa  will  depend  on  this,  and  how 
intimately  the  negro  and  the  cross-breed  will  be  affected 
in  a  few  decades  by  the  march  of  events  across  the 
Suez  cuttings. 

Still  there  is  one  more  word  to  be  said.  The  sun 
is  the  white  man's  last  ally  in  hot  countries,  just  as  the 
snow  is  Russia's  last  ally  in  her  ice-bound  home.  The 
sun  speaks  the  first  and  last  word  —  it  says.  Rise  and 
fight  with  blind  rage;  and  it  says.  Lie  down  and  die 
silently  Hke  fatalists,  because  men  who  possess  the  magic 
contained  in  cold  air  reservoirs  cannot  be  conquered 
beyond  certain  limits.  The  sun  has  marked  men  with 
its  taint,  more  and  more  darkly  as  the  Equator  is 
approached,  until  ebony  black  and  rank  cannibalism 
show  the  depths  to  which  human  beings  can  be  reduced. 
That  the  nobler  races  should  ever  be  called  upon  to 
measure  strength  with  such  as  these  is  itself  ignoble. 
Yet  it  is  not  from  the  ebony-black  that  so  much  is  to 
be  feared  as  from  lighter-coloured  men.  It  is  these 
men  who  may  rise  against  Europe  and  lead  the  others, 
it  is  these  who  may  inspire  a  general  black  revolt,  thus 


IV  THE  BLACK  PROBLEM  263 

upsetting  in  many  vital  particulars  in  distant  days  the 
confident  calculations  of  those  who,  born  and  bred  in 
temperate  climes,  can  never  know  more  of  men's 
thoughts  and  ambitions  in  such  mysterious  lands  than 
they  do  of  the  thoughts  and  ambitions  of  the  possible 
men  of  Mars.     And  with  that  one  must  end. 


CHAPTER  V 


GENERAL    CONCLUSIONS 


The  survey  which  has  been  made  of  the  peculiar 
conditions  prevailing  to-day  throughout  the  non- 
Caucasian  world  —  that  is,  the  analysis  of  the  treble 
problem  of  Yellow,  Brown,  and  Black  —  though 
necessarily  condensed,  and  in  many  other  respects  very 
imperfect,  should  be  sufficient  to  afford  in  a  variety  of 
ways  some  proof  of  the  pressing  need  that  really  exists 
for  abandoning  the  old  and  narrow  views  regarding 
Asia  and  Africa  which,  while  perhaps  permissible  until 
the  end  of  last  century,  are  now  hopelessly  out-of- 
date. 

Briefly,  unless  the  future  progress  of  the  world  is  to 

be   upset   by  vast   conflicts,   those   Powers   which   are 

vitally  and  truly  interested  in  the  maintenance  of  a 

general  peace  should  see  to  it  that  permanent,  and  not 

temporary,  measures  of  relief  are  undertaken  without 

undue  delay.     Such  measures  will  only  be  practicable 

when  the  intimate  connection  between  all  the  coloured 

world  is  officially  recognised,  and  the  real  goal  —  an 

Asiatic-African  balance  of  power  which  shall  ultimately 

exist  independent  of  Europe  —  is  earnestly  aimed  at. 

That  can  be  the  one  and  only  true  means  of  securing 

peace. 

264 


CH.  V       GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  265 

Fortunately,  so  rapidly  can  reform  be  effected  in 
points  of  view,  one  is  able  to-day  at  last  to  note 
that  a  respectable  proportion  of  the  intelligent  men 
throughout  the  world  are  at  last  abandoning  stereo- 
typed ideas,  and  are  showing,  in  many  different 
countries,  that  they  earnestly  wish  to  march  with  the 
times.  In  other  words,  there  are  some  signs  to  be 
seen  that  European  civilisation,  which  has  now  been 
for  so  long  in  close  contact  with  the  civilisations  of 
India,  China,  Japan,  Persia,  Egypt,  and  Turkey,  and 
other  minor  countries,  a  civilisation  which  has  been 
in  some  haste  to  drive  home  the  necessity  of  employing 
its  own  peculiar  political  forms  —  notably,  constitution- 
alism and  representative  government  —  is  now  willing 
to  admit  that  the  judicial  forms  it  has  derived  from 
Rome,  the  religion  it  has  taken  from  Palestine,  and 
the  ideals  of  beauty  which  it  has  borrowed  from 
Greece,  as  well  as  the  system  of  government  it  owes 
to  the  barbarian  conquerors  of  Rome,  do  not 
necessarily  comprise  all  that  is  good  in  the  world ; 
and  that  other  civilisations,  equally  eclectic,  may 
flourish  and  bring  contentment  to  their  owners.  Men, 
having  too  long  been  fully  occupied  in  examining 
historical  causation,  may  soon  be  tempted  to  study 
climatic  influences.  There  is,  in  any  case,  a  perceptible 
pause  to  be  noted  in  the  propagandist  activities  of 
the  white  man,  probably  because  he  instinctively 
realises  that,  though  his  inventions  and  his  forms  may 
be  readily  accepted,  the  spirit  of  the  non-white 
populations  of  the  world  remains  precisely  the  same 
as  it  has  always  been;  in  a  word,  that  no  matter 
how  much  externals  may  be  altered,  men  retain  certain 
unalterable   qualities   and   ideas   which   are   rooted    in 


266       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR       ch. 

climate  and  environment.  To  him  who  knows  both 
East  and  West  there  must  always  be  a  certain  element 
of  amusement  in  the  present  conflict,  with  its  pulpit 
protestations  and  pious  wishes,  and  all  its  sombre 
underlying  enmity  and  ill-feeling.  Let  us  say  it  out- 
right —  the  world,  in  international  affairs,  is  now  almost 
openly  given  over  to  play-acting;  and  yet  only  a  few 
keen-minded  are  frank  enough  to  admit  that  this 
is   so. 

For  though  the  opinions  of  many  of  those  who  may 
be  called  "intellectuals"  have  changed,  such  men 
form  only  tiny  handfuls,  living  far  in  advance  of  the 
bulk  of  their  countrymen,  and  distrusted  by  them 
because  their  newer  doctrines  necessarily  clash  with 
received  opinions  inherited  from  olden  days.  Such 
latter-day  opinions  are  therefore  still  without  first-class 
political  importance.  Politically,  both  in  Europe  and 
America,  in  the  last  analysis  the  main  factors  still 
remain  the  prejudiced  and  unintelligent  millions,  whose 
passions  and  ambitions  can  only  be  fully  aroused  by  old 
and  well-known  war-cries,  and  who  turn  unmeaning 
faces  towards  that  which  is  novel.  To  them  the 
coloured  man  has  always  been  an  enemy  to  be  blindly 
contemned ;  an  enemy  he  still  remains.  The  geography 
of  two  such  immense  continents  as  Africa  and  Asia  is  no 
more  understood  than  is  their  destiny;  and  the  popular 
mind  still  peoples  these  lands  much  as  Gulliver  peopled 
Lilliput  and  Brobdingnag  and  Laputa,  with  pigmies  and 
giants  and  knavish  projectors. 

This  real  domination  of  unintelligent  opinion  is  what 
politicians  would  seem  to  acknowledge  in  their  exterior 
policy,  if  one  is  to  understand  their  motives  from  the 
unscientific  and  piecemeal    manner  in  which  foreign 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  267 

affairs  are  still  dealt  with  in  the  chancelleries  of  all 
save  perhaps  autocratic  countries.  And  this  is  the  very 
reason  why  it  is  to  be  feared  that,  until  there  have  been 
fresh  catastrophes  in  Asia  and  Africa,  the  necessity  for 
a  proper  and  radical  revision  of  the  political  relationships 
existing  between  West  and  East  will  never  be  recog- 
nised. When,  for  instance,  one  contrasts  the  amount  of 
scientific  labour  which  Asiatic  countries  themselves 
already  expend  on  treating  problems  arising  from 
contact  with  Europe,  with  the  small  place  Asiatic 
affairs  still  occupy  in  important  European  chancelleries 
in  comparison  with  European  affairs  —  when  one  fully 
realises  this  lack  of  political  reciprocity  —  there  can  only 
be  a  feeling  of  profound  dissatisfaction  at  the  want  of 
foresight  shown  by  those  who  are  so  constantly  pro- 
claiming that  they  lead.  All  their  energies  would 
appear  to  be  consumed  in  idle  work;  for  it  is  only 
possible  to  designate  as  idle  work  such  things  as 
ententes  and  other  temporary  alliances  not  entered  into 
for  the  permanent  advantage  of  mankind,  but  from  a 
false  orientation  of  political  rivalries. 

For  to-day  it  has  been  made  plain  once  again  in  a 
variety  of  ways  that  just  as  the  average  Englishman 
finds  it  so  hard  to  get  rid  of  the  old  "colonial"  idea  — 
the  idea  that  countries  such  as  Canada  and  Australia 
and  New  Zealand,  and  now  South  Africa,  belong  to 
him  and  are  his  very  own  to  exploit  and  patronise  as 
he  will  —  so  would  the  average  white  man  appear  to 
cling  with  desperation  to  old-fashioned  assumptions  in 
regard  to  Asia,  which,  in  the  same  degree  as  the 
"colonial'*  idea  is  irritating  to  the  men  of  England's 
overseas  dominions,  arouse  the  open  ire  of  intelligent 
Asiatics.     It   is   true   that   the   American   is   the   least 


268        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR       ch. 

inclined  of  all  men  of  the  white  races  to  accept  such 
established  prejudices,  since  his  own  history  has  taught 
him  the  peculiar  nature  of  colour  questions,  whilst 
patronising  opinions,  belonging  to  unintelligent  mon- 
archies rather  than  to  open-eyed  republics,  are  not 
popular  with  him.  And  this  is  the  reason  why  the  very 
brusqueness  with  which  the  Washington  State  Depart- 
ment handles  vast  issues,  the  very  unconcern  with 
which  it  dogmatises  on  burning  questions,  is  to-day  so 
eminently  refreshing.  At  least  it  denotes  an  openness  of 
mind,  as  well  as  frankness  and  moral  courage,  instead 
of  that  dolorous  formalism,  that  subserviency  to  received 
opinions,  that  timorous  backing  and  filling,  which  re- 
mains the  curse  of  official  Europe.  The  American 
attitude  gives  promise  of  great  possibilities  when  public 
opinion  is  ripe  for  the  taking  of  great  measures;  and  for 
this  every  open-minded  man  should  be  thankful. 

For  great  measures  will  soon  be  necessary  —  no  one 
need  any  longer  doubt  that  —  if  to-day,  when  there  is 
still  time  to  shape  the  march  of  events  by  wise  diplo- 
macy, a  childish  complacency  regarding  the  future  is 
the  general  attitude,  and  especially  the  attitude  of 
England. 

By  far  the  most  important  development  which  has 
come  during  three  centuries  of  Asiatic  history  —  a 
development  which  is  bound  to  have  the  most  profound 
influence  in  future  times  on  all  nations  —  is  the  rise  of 
the  first  real  Asiatic  sea  Power,  without  there  being 
any  real  indications  of  the  rise  of  a  second  or  third 
Asiatic  sea  Power  to  counterbalance  this  great  and  re- 
markable force,  which  is  determined  at  all  costs  to 
preserve  the  predominance  it  has  so  signally  won, 
and  is  content  to  be  second  to  no  one  on  the  waters 


y  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  269 

of  the  Pacific.  This  is  a  fact  that  now  flames  up  like  a 
torch  in  the  night. 

It  is  true  that  to  go  no  farther  back  than  the  later 
Middle  Ages,  when  the  world  was  very  narrow  and  con- 
fined, Turkey,  the  other  Asiatic  David,  was  a  sea  Power 
of  some  importance,  and  Turkish  galleys  incessantly 
fought  with  the  galleys  of  the  Italian  Republics,  not  to 
speak  of  others,  for  the  mastery  of  the  Mediterranean 
lake.  But  that  was  rather  infantile  warfare  when  com- 
pared with  modern  affairs  of  permanent  world-impor- 
tance, when  compared  with  the  immense  forces  which 
the  world's  innumerable  drilled  milHons  now  put  in 
intelligent  battle-array.  It  was  similar  to  the  warfare 
which  England  had  as  a  common  experience  from  the 
time  of  King  Alfred  and  the  Danes,  and  which,  while 
it  may  be  considered  valuable  as  a  schooling  for  the 
nations,  was  without  general  historical  importance. 

For,  to  keep  to  the  same  example,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  bounds  of  Turkish  dominion  were  set  by  forces 
other  than  human  forces  —  that  a  reading  of  history  and 
physiographic  study  make  clear.  Turkey  made  three 
great  efforts  to  secure  a  commanding  navy  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  each  time  it  was  deemed  necessary 
by  Europe,  and  was  therefore  possible,  to  destroy  that 
navy.  At  Lepanto,  in  1571,  the  united  fleets  of  Spain, 
Malta,  Genoa,  Venice,  and  Pius  V.  crushed  the  Turk; 
once  more,  at  the  passage  of  Scio  in  1770,  Russia  and 
England  defeated  him;  and  finally  at  Navarino  in  1827 
England,  France,  and  Russia  repeated  this  signal  per- 
formance. Maritime  Turkey  was  therefore  really  always 
a  hostage  in  the  hands  of  Europe,  when  Europe  chose 
to  rise  up  and  strike  hard.  Though  to-day  the  Turkish 
navy  has  a  paper  strength  of  six  vice-admirals,  eleven 


270        THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR       ch. 

rear-admirals,  208  captains,  289  commanders,  228 
lieutenants,  187  ensigns,  and  39,000  sailors  and  marines, 
and  though  European  gold  and  European  officers  are 
engaged  in  converting  this  paper  force  into  something 
more  effective,  Turkey  as  a  sea  Power  can  never  escape 
from  the  trap  of  the  Mediterranean.  In  a  word,  offen- 
sively —  offensive  power  being  the  only  true  measure  of 
strength  —  Turkey  is  a  negligible  quantity. 

The  growth  of  a  real  Asiatic  sea  Power  efficient  in 
every  way,  a  Power  whose  conceptions  are  not  paludic 
but  truly  pelagic,  a  Power  which  has  the  greatest  ocean 
in  the  world  lying  free  around  it,  is  of  far  greater 
consequence  to  the  white  man  than  has  yet  been 
properly  realised,  though  a  great  deal  has  already  been 
tentatively  written  on  the  subject.  For  the  modern 
counterpart  of  Navarino  is  Tsushima.  This  is 
equivalent  to  admitting  that  Japan  can  already  restrain 
Europe  in  eastern  Asia,  just  as  eastern  Europe  has 
always  been  able  to  restrain  the  Turk.  But  there  is 
more  than  that.  So  far  from  geography  setting  any 
limits  to  Japanese  strength,  geography  sets  no  limits  at 
all.*  America  is  the  nearest  restraint,  and  America  is 
five  thousand  miles  away. 

*  It  is  significant  and  worthy  of  being  specially  referred  to 
that  Japan  has  already  commenced  discussing  the  advisability  of 
adopting  a  two-Power  naval  standard,  that  is,  a  navy  sufficiently 
strong  to  withstand  the  fleets  which  any  two  Powers  could 
afford  to  concentrate  in  the  waters  of  eastern  Asia  without 
jeopardising  their  other  interests.  It  seems  plain  that  the  only 
naval  combination  she  need  ever  fear  is  an  Anglo-American 
combination,  which,  even  with  a  hostile  Germany,  could  con- 
centrate a  battle-fleet  superior  to  any  the  Japanese  can  afford  to 
build  for  many  decades,  unless,  and  this  is  the  important  point,  the 
resources  of  China  are  placed  at  her  disposal.  Verbum  sat 
sapienti. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  271 

When  it  is  remembered  that  deep-sea  navigation,  that 
is,  trans-oceanic  navigation,  has  hitherto  been  the  special 
prerogative  of  the  white  man,  and  that  even  he  only 
learned  the  secret  some  four  centuries  ago,  the  remark- 
able importance  of  modern  Japan  should  be  better  under- 
stood. For  four  hundred  years  the  mastery  of  the  ocean 
has  given  the  white  man  the  virtual  mastery  of  the  world. 
Though  small  portions  of  the  world  were  more  or  less 
civilised  certainly  as  far  back  as  fifty  centuries  ago; 
though  man  has  been  on  this  planet  for  at  least  a  thou- 
sand centuries,  and  some  now  say  for  ten  thousand  centu- 
ries, it  is  only  during  the  last  four  hundred  years  that  the 
regular  and  systematic  navigation  of  the  ocean  highway 
has  been  possible.  That  was  the  vigorous  white  man's 
prerogative;  he  learnt  it  in  the  bitter  school  of  suffer- 
ing and  not  solely  by  the  aid  of  the  mariner's  compass, 
which  China,  for  instance,  possessed  long  ago.  Now  on 
the  Pacific  that  prerogative  has  been  partially  lost. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  long  before  the  sailing  of 
the  Atlantic  and  the  rediscovery  of  America  by 
Columbus  four  hundred  years  ago  —  that  spectacular 
voyage  in  cockle-shell  craft,  which  opened  this 
marvellous  chapter  of  maritime  history  and  which  is  one 
of  Europe's  proudest  achievements  —  Arab  and  Chinese 
navigators  had  coasted  regularly  all  round  Asia  and 
built  up  a  profitable  trade.  The  great  Venetian,  Marco 
Polo,  has  left  on  clear  record  how  he  brought  an 
imperial  bride  from  China  to  Persia  by  sea,  and  he 
himself  described  how  enormous  were  the  Chinese 
junks    and    their    crews    even    in    those  distant  days. 

Still,  all  maritime  activity  in  the  thirteenth  century 
and  of  earlier  times  was  really  coastwise;  and  though 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Buddhist  monks  from 


272      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

China,  sailing  boldy  across  the  greatest  ocean  in  the 
world,  actually  reached  the  Pacific  coasts  of  America 
fifteen  hundred  years  ago  —  the  mariner's  compass  hav- 
ing been  discovered  independently  by  the  Chinese,  just 
as  gun-powder  was  so  discovered  by  them — that  voyage 
must  be  classed  with  the  adventurous  Norsemen's 
first  discovery  of  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  America  in  a 
slighty  later  period.  Each  was  a  marine  tour  de  force 
having  no  abiding  results.  Regular  ocean  navigation 
only  commenced  with  the  activities  of  the  daring 
Portuguese  and  Spanish  and  other  navigators  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  —  activities  which  soon 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  sea-routes  to  every  part 
of  the  world.  Before  those  discoveries  geography  was 
so  obscure  and  maps  so  fanciful  that  when  Columbus 
set  sail  to  cross  the  Atlantic  he  did  not  dream  of  reach- 
ing America,  a  continent  whose  existence  was  then  not 
even  suspected,  but  only  the  islands  of  Japan  marked 
on  Marco  Polo's  thirteenth  century  maps  as  Chipangu, 
and  long  falsely  celebrated  for  their  gold.  Thus  it  is 
exceedingly  curious  to-day  to  reflect  that  indirectly  it 
was  Japan,  just  as  much  as  the  Indies,  which  was  the 
golden  lure  that  started  Europe  on  that  vast  trans- 
oceanic activity  which  has  led  to  such  great  and  far- 
reaching  results.  There  is  perhaps  some  poetic  justice 
in  the  fact  that  these  islands  of  the  East  are  at  last 
taking  payment  for  the  moral  debt  which  is  owed 
them. 

Now,  if  the  vigour  and  strength  of  Europe  were 
to-day  ranged  in  the  forefront  of  world-politics,  as 
they  were  in  those  old  explorers'  days,  when  Spain  and 
Portugal,  and  later,  Holland  and  France  and  England, 
were  employing  their  best  endeavours  and  all  the  genius 


V  GENERAL   CONCLUSIONS  273 

they  could  summon  in  trans-oceanic  activities,  it  is 
hard  to  believe  that  even  in  the  political  to-morrow  the 
conflict  of  colour  would  find  the  white  man  worsted, 
no  matter  on  what  terms  that  conflict  might  be  fought. 
For  the  Teutonic  and  Slav  races  have  gathered  strength 
and  vigour  in  measure  as  the  Latin  races  —  the  first 
leaders  in  this  ocean-race  —  have  lost  strength  and 
vigour;  and  to-day  the  great  masses  of  population 
acknowledging  either  German  Kaiser  or  Russian  Czar 
as  overlord,  are  now  almost  equal  to  the  rest  of  Europe's 
population. 

But  though  this  growth  of  numbers  has  transferred 
the  European  balance  of  power  to  hands  other  than 
those  which  once  held  it,  it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that 
in  the  outer  world,  that  is,  in  the  non-European  world, 
the  old-time  conditions  still  remain  much  the  same. 
That  France,  the  last  of  the  Latin  Powers  to  remain 
among  the  world's  great  navigators,  should  still  be  in 
possession  of  vast  colonies  in  Africa  and  Asia  which 
she  cannot  be  counted  on  permanently  to  retain,  since 
she  is  standing  still  whilst  the  rest  of  the  world  is 
rapidly  advancing,  is  an  open  menace  to  European 
supremacy  throughout  the  world.  That  she  is  being 
maintained  in  that  position  principally  to  prevent 
Germany  from  taking  her  place,  is  another  well- 
acknowledged  and  melancholy  fact.  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal having  virtually  lost  all  their  colonies,  and  having 
finally  sunk  to  fourth-rate  Powers,  it  is  amply  clear 
that  if  the  white  man's  overlordship  is  to  remain  even 
during  this  present  century,  it  will  be  entirely  through 
the  agency  of  the  Teutonic  races  on  sea  —  the  English, 
the  American,  the  Germans  —  and  largely  through  the 
agency  of  the  Slavs  on  land.     No  amount  of  argument, 

T 


274       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

no  amount  of  insane  shouting,  can  gainsay  the  fact  that 
Germany  does  not  to-day  occupy  the  position  through- 
out the  world  which  racially  she  is  now  entitled  to 
occupy.*  As  the  whole  strength  of  Great  Britain's 
foreign  policy  is  concentrated  on  maintaining  the  present 
unstable  status  quo  —  that  is,  restraining  Germany  and 
aiding  a  decadent  Power,  France;  pitting  Japan  against 
Russia  in  the  Far  East;  refusing  to  assist  in  any  large 
constructive  plans  in  China;  bolstering  up  Turkey 
without  any  clear  conception  of  what  that  policy  may 
lead  to;  vainly  hoping  that  the  Korea  of  the  Middle 
East,  Persia,  will  somehow  remain  intact;  coquetting 
with  the  internal  problem  of  India  —  in  a  word  playing, 
rather  than  properly  dealing,  with  a  mass  of  serious 
problems;  as  this  is  the  avowed  British  policy,  there  is 
no  possible  means  of  forecasting  what  may  or  may  not 
happen  in  the  near  future.  In  spite  of  the  renown 
which  they  have  won,  it  may  be  said  that  practically 
every  one  of  the  political  arrangements  entered  into 
of  recent  years  by  England  savour  of  mere  politicians* 
devices  for  warding  off  evils  rather  than  of  statesman- 
like attempts  to  go  to  the  root  of  troubles  and  determine 
once  and  for  all  what  should  be  done  during  a  long 

^  The  manner  in  which  the  recent  continuous  agitation  against 
the  designs  of  Germany  has  awakened  a  thrill  of  sympathy 
in  every  part  of  the  British  Empire  must  not  be  taken  as  weaken- 
ing in  any  way  the  force  of  this  argument.  Of  course,  men  of 
the  same  race  must  always  have  many  things  in  common.  A 
year  before  Bunker's  Hill  Americans  always  spoke  of  England  as 
"Home."  But  though  a  senseless  animosity  may  be  kindled 
by  a  persistent  campaign  of  words,  such  ebullitions  of  feeling  are 
necessarily  short-lived,  and  men,  when  they  have  been  calmed  by 
the  flux  of  a  little  time,  return  to  a  belief  in  what  may  be  called  primal 
political  considerations.  These  can  all  be  summed  up  in  one  com- 
pound word  —  self-interest. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  275 

term  of  years.  This  is  precisely  the  policy  of  the 
ancient  Chinese  —  the  policy  of  building  Great  Walls 
to  ward  off  evils;  the  use  of  negative  power  rather 
than  of  positive  power;  the  policy  of  postponement; 
and  what  such  a  policy  inevitably  brings  in  its  train 
has  a  hundred  times  been  made  clear.  To  over-con- 
centration on  European  affairs,  primarily  induced  by 
the  supplanting  of  France  by  Germany,  must  then  be 
traced  the  present  very  real  deadlock  throughout  the 
entire  world. ^ 

Yet,  if  men  were  willing  to-day  to  take  a  proper 
panoramic  view  of  history,  and  to  see  things  in  their 
true  proportions,  this  inevitable  change  would  not 
appear  so  fearful.  It  was  just  such  a  change  wrought  in 
the  eighteenth  century  which  gave  England  her  present 
position;  and  to-day,  no  matter  what  new  changes 
may  come  to  Europe,  there  should  be  no  harm  to 
England  if  England  to  herself  remains  true.  The 
objective  point  of  view  is  admittedly  the  only  one 
which  can  have  permanent  political  importance,  the 
only  one,  surely,  which  should  be  constantly  sought; 
but  it  is  precisely  that  point  of  view  which  is  to-day 
carefully  avoided.  Self-interest  has  assumed  such  im- 
portance; the  needs  of  the  passing  hour  are  deemed  so 
supreme ;   the  craven  fears  regarding  the  rise  of  trium- 

^  But  let  us  note  this.  If  Germany  to-day  overshadows 
France,  to-morrow  Russia,  with  the  aid  of  her  immense  birth- 
rate, must  overshadow  Germany.  In  1950  one  hundred  million 
Germans  may  menace  forty  million  Frenchmen  twice  as  cruelly 
as  to-day;  but  these  hundred  million  Germans  will  in  turn  be 
then  menaced  by  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  Russians,  who 
can  thus  crush  them  by  mere  weight  of  numbers.  And  by  the  end 
of  the  century  there  should  be  four  hundred  millions  of  such 
Russians  I 


276       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

phant  ochlocracies  are  so  widespread,  that  the  world  has 
rapidly  become  filled  with  a  generation  of  misologists 
who  know  not  what  they  seek.  "Sufficient  unto  the 
hour  is  the  evil  thereof"  is  the  popular  political  shibbo- 
leth; everyone  displays  a  cunaative  disposition;  and 
whilst  even  thirty  years  ago  an  Armenian  massacre 
aroused  concern,  to-day  synalgia  is  looked  upon  as  the 
forerunner  of  a  stupid  antiperistasis  which  can  only  lead 
to  the  most  unfortunate  results.  Any  plan  which  is 
really  logical  is  looked  upon  as  prompted  by  a 
Catilinarian  attitude.  A  common  phenomenon  is  held 
to  be  a  noumenon,  and  hands  are  often  helplessly 
raised,  and  fears  constantly  expressed,  that  European 
civilisation  may  one  day  be  engulfed  in  a  vast  Asiatic- 
African  movement.  That  things  should  have  come  to 
such  a  pass  is  the  crowning  irony  of  a  sapient  age. 

For  to  those  who  have  not  hopelessly  surrendered 
themselves  to  narrow  conceptions,  the  origin  of  which 
must  be  sought  in  the  modern  growth  of  nationalism  and 
the  resultant  friction,  world-politics  during  very  many 
centuries  indeed  can  be  reduced  to  a  few  grand  move- 
ments, by  far  the  most  significant  of  which  is  the  role 
Asia  has  constantly  and  consistently  played  towards 
Europe,  to  Europe's  lasting  advantage.  Briefly,  not 
only  has  Asia  been  Europe's  schoolmaster  in  thought, 
but  Asia  has  been  the  anvil  on  which  the  steel  of 
Europe  has  been  hardened.  To-day,  if  Asia  is  properly 
used,  Asia  can  re-adjust  the  European  balance.  Let  us 
first  look  at  the  role  Asia  has  already  played. 

From  the  days  of  the  dismemberment  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  brought  about,  let  us  not  forget,  by  the 
migrations  of  those  very  white  barbarians  who  have 
now  grown  into  the  rulers  of  the  world,  the  state  of 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  277 

solution  in  which  Europe  was  left  would  have  certainly 
endured  much  longer  had  it  not  been  for  this  one  cause 
—  Asia.  By  a  succession  of  vast  onslaughts,  widely 
distant  perhaps  in  point  of  time  and  place,  but  always 
directed  with  the  utmost  vehemence,  and  thereby 
setting  in  motion  other  vast  movements,  Asia  shook 
and  hardened  Europe  to  new  life,  thus  re-opening  a 
second  chapter  in  the  never-ending  story  of  the  conflict 
between  East  and  West,  the  first  chapter  of  which  had 
been  the  Graeco-Roman  period,  when  Greek  and 
Roman  had  struggled  for  mastery  with  Oriental 
Empires.  This  second  chapter,  like  the  first  chapter, 
roughly  covered  a  period  of  a  thousand  years. 

The  terrible  Huns  or  Tartars,  whose  invasions 
deflected  from  a  south-easterly  direction  to  a  north- 
westerly direction  by  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  were 
the  first  men  to  carry  fire  and  sword  into  the  very 
heart  of  Europe,  always  annihilating  or  driving  the 
white  barbarians  in  front  of  them,  until  their  crushing 
defeat  in  France  in  the  fifth  century  became  the  signal 
for  the  sudden  rise  of  the  more  advanced  Germanic 
races,  which  had  already  absorbed  the  outlying  portions 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  Considered  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  foundations  of  modern  Europe,  this  battle 
of  white  Europe  against  Attila  and  the  Huns,  so  fitly 
immortalised  by  Gibbon  in  his  great  work,  was  the  first 
hammer-blow  on  the  Asiatic  anvil  —  a  blow  which, 
while  it  marked  the  final  disappearance  of  a  world- 
empire,  brought  about  the  birth  of  several  nations. 
Asia,  therefore,  acted  the  part  of  a  maleutic;  and  that 
was  the  part  it  soon  acted  again. 

The  next  blow  came  from  the  Arabs  three  centuries 
later.     Having   already   conquered   Spain   and   almost 


278       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

annihilated  the  Visigoths,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighth  century  vast  clouds  of  Arabs  poured  across  the 
Pyrenees.  Once  again  on  French  soil  was  it  that  the 
man  of  colour  was  smitten  hip  and  thigh,  and  by  so 
doing  France  was  born.  Charles,  fitly  surnamed  the 
Hammer,  had  once  more  come  down  on  the  anvil,  this 
time  with  such  crushing  force  that,  although  the  Moors 
retained  parts  of  Spain  for  more  than  seven  hundred 
years,  four  centuries  were  to  elapse  before  there  were 
any  fresh  assaults  on  Europe  by  non-Aryan  races.  Then 
the  second  Tartar  invasion  began,  and  the  Mongols, 
streaming  across  the  vast  plains  of  south-eastern 
Europe  and  conquering  all  Russia,  were  beaten  under 
the  very  walls  of  Vienna  largely  by  the  aid  of  the 
Hungarians  —  themselves  nothing  but  Asiatics  left 
behind  from  the  flood  of  the  first  Asiatic  invasions 
of  the  fifth  century.  Finally  the  Ottoman  Turks, 
beginning  the  attack  in  the  extreme  south-east,  crossed 
from  Asia  Minor  and  rivalling  the  successes  of  the 
Arabs  in  Spain  eight  centuries  before,  captured  the 
whole  Byzantine  Empire,  and  were  only  arrested  after 
immense  struggles  along  the  line  of  the  Danube  —  thus 
terminating  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  vast  series  of 
forays  which  had  been  deliberately  undertaken  against 
Europe.  Four  times,  then,  in  the  course  of  a  thousand 
years  was  Europe  invaded  by  most  powerful  hordes, 
and  each  time  that  the  invaders  were  finally  shattered 
powerful  European  nations  arose  from  the  ruins  of 
battlefields.  That  is  one  aspect  which  it  is  well  to-day 
to  remember,  for  though  each  case  is  well  known, 
men  are  apt  to  forget  that  the  conflict  with  Asia  was 
practically  unending,  hundreds  of  years  being  consumed 
in  winning  final  victory  and   completely  ejecting  the 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  279 

invaders.  This  was  the  case  with  the  Huns,  with  the 
Arabs,  with  the  Mongols,  with  the  Turks,  and  with 
them  the  last  word  has  not  yet  been  spoken. 

This  historic  struggle,  which  is  seldom  rightfully 
considered  in  its  action  and  reaction  on  the  peoples  of 
Europe,  together  with  one  other  factor,  is  undoubtedly 
the  explanation  of  the  white  man's  present  position 
all  the  world  over.  Had  it  been  possible  for  Europe 
to  isolate  herself,  as  China  largely  succeeded  in 
doing  for  two  thousand  years,  by  building  artificial 
barriers;  had  Europe  not  been  forced  to  fight  almost 
unendingly  along  open  frontiers;  had  she  not  been  so 
close  to  Asia  and  Africa  that  they  were  always  in  view, 
the  world  would  be  a  very  different  place  to-day.  First 
one  European  nation,  then  another  went  through  that 
hardening  process  which  necessarily  awakens  all  the 
highest  faculties  and  brings  the  highest  virtues  into  play; 
and  in  this  connection  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the 
English  until  the  time  of  Elizabeth  —  that  is,  until  they 
began  to  go  to  distant  foreign  parts  to  fight  —  were  noted 
throughout  Europe  for  their  dulness,  their  lethargy  and 
their  general  lack  of  enterprise.  What  is  the  explana- 
tion of  this  phenomenon  .?  That  whilst  Spain,  Portugal, 
Italy,  France,  Hungary,  Germany,  and  Muscovy  had 
been  continually  engaged  in  warfare  with  coloured  foes, 
with  whom  it  was  almost  constantly  a  question  of 
winning  or  being  exterminated,  England  remained 
entirely  immune  from  such  onslaughts.  Had  it  not 
been  for  her  French  wars,  all  valour,  all  ambition  might 
have  vanished.  Competition  is  good,  warfare  is  better, 
and  terrific  onslaughts  are  the  best  of  all.  It  is  adversity 
—  the  battle,  murder  and  sudden  death  against  which 
we  pray,  but  which  remains  our  surest  hope  of  earthly 


280       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

salvation  —  which  alone  strengthens  the  character  of 
nations  and  determines  men  to  win  or  die.  And  to-day 
that  there  should  be  a  new  menace  in  Europe  is  good 
and  proper.^ 

*  A  great  deal  of  misleading  writing  would  be  avoided  if  on 
the  subject  of  modern  armaments,  in  relation  to  modem  trade,  in- 
dustry and  capitalism  as  well  as  modem  numbers,  a  proper  method 
of  comparison  were  followed.  Concerning  these  burdens  —  for 
armaments  are  now  universally  so-called,  though  the  expression  is 
inaccurate  —  it  is  best  to  look  at  figures. 

At  the  time  that  England  was  engaged  in  erecting  the  British  Em- 
pire a  century  and  a  half  ago  by  persistent  warfare,  it  was  com- 
mon for  the  fleet  to  have  no  less  than  70,000  or  80,000  seamen 
aboard  ship  (in  1800  the  number  was  135,000);  whilst  no  fewer 
than  a  quarter  of  a  million  men  manned  the  eight  thousand  sail 
which  traded  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  population  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  together  with  the  North  American  Colonies,  was 
then  perhaps  nine  or  ten  millions,  or  only  one-fifth  of  the  present 
population  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  To-day,  that  is,  in  the 
registers  of  the  year  1908,  there  are  in  the  Royal  Navy  a  total 
number  of  seamen  only  amounting  to  128,000  men;  in  the  mer- 
chant marine  there  are  11,626  steamers  and  9,542  small  and  large 
sailing  vessels  manned  by  275,721  persons.  To  be  in  the  same 
numerical  proportion  as  150  years  ago,  the  war  strength  of  the 
British  Navy  should  be  anywhere  from  350,000  to  400,000  men; 
the  merchant  marine  should  be  manned  by  1,000,000  persons!  Sea- 
power  then  does  not  entail  anything  like  the  drain  of  men 
it  once  did,  which  is  an  important  point,  whilst  in  the  matter 
of  cost  the  burden,  relatively  speaking,  has  enormously  fallen. 
In  round  numbers  England  has  lately  been  spending  about 
;^70,ooo,ooo  sterling  upon  her  army  and  navy — or  a  sum  equiva- 
lent to  7  per  cent,  of  the  gross  value  of  her  foreign  trade.  To 
put  it  differently,  assuming  that  foreign  and  colonial  investments 
represent  an  invested  capital  of  three  thousand  million  sterling, 
producing  a  revenue  of  ;^i 50,000,000  sterling  per  annum;  and 
that  British  steam-tonnage  represents  an  invested  capital  of 
;Ci, 500,000,000  (roughly  ten  million  tons  at  £1^  per  ton),  earning 
at  5  per  cent,  per  annum  ;{^75,ooo,ooo,  then  from  these  two 
foreign  sources  there  is  yearly  incoming  no  less  than  ;{^2 1 5,000,000 
sterling,  or  more  than  three  times  the  yearly  cost  of  British  arma- 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  281 

There  was,  of  course,  another  factor  in  this  vast 
evolution  of  the  white  races  in  conflict  with  other 
races.  This  factor,  of  course,  was  nothing  less  than 
Christianity;  but  not,  as  theologians  love  erroneously 
to  point  out,  because  Christianity  as  a  religious  system 
has  any  special  virtue,  but  because  Christianity  supplied 
just  that  permanent  and  universal  organisation  and 
inspiration  which  were  needed  by  rude  and  unimagina- 
tive peoples  to  give  them  discipline,  and  to  intensify 

ments.  No  account  is  here  taken  of  trading  profits  on  a  gross  an- 
nual United  Kingdom  trade  of  a  thousand  millions  sterling.  Con- 
sidering that  a  hundred  years  ago  the  trade  of  all  England 
was  not  above  a  hundred  millions  sterling  and  that  150  years  ago 
it  was  not  fifty  millions  sterling  —  with  no  investments  abroad  of 
any  value  —  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  costly  wars  were  then 
continually  waged,  unless  it  was  that  the  temper  of  the  people 
was  very  different.  Thus  the  Seven  Years'  War  cost  ;£^i  22,000,000 
sterling,  a  sum  equal  to-day  to  several  times  that  amount,  whilst 
the  Napoleonic  Wars  probably  cost  at  least  seven  times  the  cost  of 
the  Boer  War. 

The  conclusion  is  that,  comparatively  speaking,  armaments  are 
to-day  not  costly,  if  considered  in  relation  to  what  they  protect; 
and  that,  even  regarded  as  unproductive  capital,  war-fleets  are 
somewhat  wrongly  considered.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  they  rep- 
resent the  highest  mechanical  application  of  the  human  faculties; 
that  they  are  a  direct  encouragement  to  inventors;  that  their  pro- 
duction directly  affects  the  activities  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
most  skilled  workers  —  apart  from  these  considerations,  they  are 
among  the  most  valuable  schools  in  Europe  and  therefore  merit  per- 
manent and  continuous  endowment.  Ethically  speaking  they  are 
of  far  greater  value  than  classical  universities :  if  you  destroyed  such 
universities  the  loss  would  scarcely  be  felt,  whereas  the  abolition 
of  navies  and  armies  would  in  two  generations  produce  the  most  pro- 
found and  terrible  results,  not  only  in  ideals,  but  in  the  economic 
welfare  of  the  white  races.  It  is  time,  then,  that  so-called  pacificists 
were  told  in  no  uncertain  language  to  hold  their  tongues  —  not  by 
politicians,  but  by  statisticians.  In  all  truth  a  little  learning  has 
made  them  mad. 


282       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

the  conflict  with  Asia  and  Africa.  The  discipline  of 
the  Christian  church  was  absolutely  essential  in  Europe 
at  a  time  when  the  idea  of  nationality  was  virtually 
non-existent,  and  colour,  creed,  and  camp  were  the  sole 
guiding  beacons.^  The  political  mark  which  the 
Christian  church  has  consequently  made  in  Europe 
can  never  be  wholly  effaced,  though  it  is  a  mark  entirely 
different  from  anything  which  could  be  anticipated  from 
a  reading  of  the  Gospels.  The  Crusades,  by  promoting 
this  discipline  and  giving  to  it  a  military  character,  by 
taking  men  abroad  and  teaching  them  the  story  of  the 
outer  world,  completed  the  valuable  work  begun  by 
Asia  and  Africa,  and  consequently  by  the  time  of  the 
last  Turkish  forays  a  very  different  Europe  had  sprung 
into  existence. 

A  new  abuse,  however,  had  been  born  from  the  very 
fact  that  the  imposition  of  church  discipline  on  the 
white  races  had  been  so  eminently  successful;  and 
here,  in  the  correction  which  followed,  Europe  was 
once  again  not  indirectly  but  directly  indebted  to  Asia. 
The  renascence  of  learning  in  Europe  was  mainly 
brought  about  by  the  Turkish  conquest  of  Con- 
stantinople and  the  consequent  dispersal  of  Byzantine 
scholars  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Europe.  As 
the  knowledge  which  these  men  possessed,  faulty  and 

*  The  natural  corollary  of  this  is  that  in  an  age  like  the 
present  age  when  not  only  is  nationality  well  fixed,  but  education 
well  advanced,  and  enlightenment  almost  general,  such  institu- 
tions as  established  churches,  i.e.,  quasi-governmcnt  churches,  are 
anachronisms.  Such  mediaeval  survivals,  though  they  may  do 
some  good,  do  more  harm,  not  wittingly  but  unwittingly,  which  is 
the  worst  form  of  all.  Religion  is  a  strictly  private  matter  and  not 
a  public  matter;  this  has  been  understood  in  China  for  many 
centuries. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  283 

peculiar  though  it  was,  spread  far  and  wide,  historical 
causation  was  better  understood,  and  there  speedily 
grew  up  that  rationalism,  the  first  clear  expression  of 
which  was  the  Reformation,  a  movement  which  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  proofs  ever  given  that  the 
human  mind  can  rise  superior  to  all  artificial  impedi- 
ments. The  scales  fell  from  the  eyes  of  many  who 
had  been  blind,  and  the  Reformation  was  soon  in  full 
swing.  Though  reaction  followed  action  it  mattered 
nothing,  for  the  necessary  impulse  had  been  given 
to  set  in  motion  the  vast  train  of  events  which  resulted 
in  the  white  man's  mastery,  if  not  of  the  whole  earth, 
at  least  of  the  five  seas.  It  was  the  Asiatic  conquest 
of  Constantinople  which  lighted  that  flaming  torch. 

The  consequence  was  that  there  followed  for  the 
coloured  peoples  exactly  what  the  most  vigorous  among 
them  had  for  ages  attempted  to  do  to  the  white  men. 
Yet  there  was  one  important  difference.  Instead  of 
conducting  frontal  attacks,  that  is,  land  attacks,  the 
conquest  of  the  sea,  conferring  the  priceless  advantage 
of  making  flank-attacks,  gave  a  different  aspect,  and 
thus   success  was   easily  won.^     Navigators  first   *dis- 

^  "From  the  days  of  the  Romans  down  to  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, the  peoples  of  Western  Europe  were  never  brought  into 
contact  with  uncivilised  coloured  races.  They  fought  and  traded 
with  Eastern  nations,  but  they  fought  and  traded  with  them  as 
equals.  The  Saracen  was  at  least  as  civilised  as  the  Crusader,  the 
Moor  was  more  civilised  than  the  Gothic  noble  of  Spain.  If  Chris- 
tians took  Mohammedans  captive,  Moslems  in  their  turn  owned 
Christian  slaves;  and  the  competition  between  East  and  West 
was  a  competition  between  rival  races  and  rival  religions,  neither 
of  which  could  claim  any  marked  outward  superiority  over  the 
other.  The  result  of  the  discoveries  of  the  fifteenth  century 
was  to  bring  Europeans  for  the  first  time  face  to  face  with 
multitudes    of   human    beings    on    an    obviously    lower    level    than 


284       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

covered*  new  lands  in  every  direction  in  which  they 
sailed.  Quickly  the  whole  world  was  unmasked  to  the 
eyes  of  the  white  man.  Then  he  began  landing 
suddenly  on  the  most  distant  shores,  and  mainly  with 
the  aid  of  his  modern  magic  —  firearms  —  soon  made 
the  most  rapid  conquests. 

It  was  indeed  magic  when  one  realises  the  condition 
of  Europe  up  to  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America, 
in  spite  of  its  reputed  civilisation.  Narrow,  circum- 
scribed, superstitious,  childish,  with  the  remains  of 
feudaHsm  still  openly  cumbering  the  ground,  it  was 
enough  to  make  wise  men  weep.  Europe  knew  next  to 
nothing  that  was  worth  knowing;  it  was  so  bigoted 
that  the  fiercest  cruelties  were  exalted  into  holy  punish- 
ments ordered  under  the  name  of  Christ;  it  was  so 
childish  that  what  Shakespeare  wrote  about  the  savage 
men  "whose  heads  do  grow  beneath  their  shoulders," 
was  firmly  believed  in  and  pictorially  represented  on 

themselves,  the  more  promising  among  them  being  child-like  and 
childish,  the  less  promising,  little  removed  from  the  beasts  that 
perish.  Even  where  a  civilisation  vv^as  found,  like  that  of  the 
Aztecs,  it  was  clearly  based  on  savagery  and  paganism,  attracting 
the  animal  instinct  of  the  invaders,  their  lust,  and  their  avarice, 
but  not  in  any  way  appealing  to  any  higher  sense  or  suggesting 
favourable  comparison  with  European  types  of  life.  Into  these 
strange  new  worlds  of  Africa  and  America  there  came  white  men 
from  beyond  the  seas,  bold,  strong,  enthusiastic,  but  withal  half- 
civilised  themselves,  fierce  and  brutal,  fanatical  to  the  last  degree, 
the  law  of  whose  life  was  force.  Bond-service  and  villeinage  had 
long  been  an  integral  element  in  the  social  system  of  Europe,  and 
slavery  was  countenanced  at  once  by  custom  and  by  religion. 
The  roughest  and  rudest  specimens  of  rough  and  rude  peoples,  in 
a  rough  and  rude  time,  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  men 
and  women  who  feared,  who  admired,  who  in  some  cases  adored 
them  as  almost  divine."  —  Lucas :  Historical  Geography  of  the  Col- 
onies, Vol.  III.,  page  72. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  285 

maps;  it  was  so  superstitious  that  the  modern  school- 
boy could  scarcely  be  restrained  from  mirth  at  the  very 
mention  of  some  of  its  most  cherished  beliefs. 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  this  Europe  knew  how  to  do  one 
thing:  it  could  fight  superbly  under  the  strictest  dis- 
cipline, and  immense  privations  were  borne  in  silence 
in  order  to  accomplish  given  ends.  The  iron  of 
Europe  had  been  hardened  on  the  Asiatic  anvil  into  the 
finest  steel ;  and  with  the  priceless  advantage  of  firearms 
it  was  a  mere  question  of  time  for  the  whole  world  to  be 
dominated,  if  not  entirely  conquered. 

This  is  what  actually  happened.  Columbus  discovered 
America  in  1492.  In  less  than  a  single  generation  from 
that  historic  discovery,  maritime  activity  resulted  in  the 
charting  of  most  of  the  world. ^  From  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  to  the  Indies;  from  China  to  the  Straits 
of  Magellan;  in  a  word  from  one  end  of  the  world  to 
the  other,  men  at  last  boldly  sailed  the  seas.  Though 
the  Turk,  for  a  few  short  decades  after  his  capture 
of  Constantinople,   imagined   that   he   had    seized   the 

^  The  voyages  of  the  Elizabethan  seaman  are  not  especially 
mentioned  here  for  the  very  good  reason  that  Hawkins,  Frobisher, 
Drake,  and  the  rest  of  the  illustrious  company  of  the  sixteenth 
century  English  navigators,  were  only  amplifying  Portuguese 
discoveries  —  to  use  an  expression  which  is  slightly  Jesuitical.  The 
epoch-making  discoveries  were  all  made  between  1492  and  1517 
—  that  is,  during  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  or  roughly  one 
generation.  Queen  Elizabeth  did  not  come  to  the  throne  until 
1558;  and  the  new  race  of  Englishmen,  devoted  to  a  maritime  career, 
was  really  formed  by  the  endorsement  given  both  by  throne 
and  people  to  the  piratical  warfare  which  was  waged  against 
Spain  in  the  New  World.  To  put  it  frankly,  England  was 
quite  asleep  until  the  lust  of  gold  bit  her;  then  her  destiny 
asserted  itself  and  she  rushed  forth  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world. 


286      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

very  gateway  of  European  commerce  with  the  East, 
had  throttled  Europe,  he  was  soon  disillusioned.  New 
routes,  new  oceans,  new  continents  had  suddenly  been 
discovered,  and  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Sea 
soon  sank  to  possessing  the  importance  of  great 
lakes  and  nothing  more.  On  the  broad  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  the  aspirations  of  a  greater  Europe  were  un- 
masked. Portuguese  and  Spaniard,  giving  to  their  con- 
quest a  semi-religious  character  —  fighting  under  the 
Cross  rather  than  under  the  flag — repeated  the  remark- 
able exploits  of  Islamism  and  well  deserved  the  Papal 
Bull  which  was  their  earthly  reward.  Their  fabulous 
conquests  in  the  new  world,  in  the  Indies,  in  Africa,  in 
the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  in  the  extreme  East,  have 
never  been  paralleled  save  perhaps  by  eighteenth  cen- 
tury England.  It  was  warfare  and  competition  between 
the  other  Atlantic  Powers  and  these  men  of  the  advance- 
guard  which  made  Holland,  France  and  England  suc- 
cessively great. ^  And  this  is  another  thing  which  it  is 
good  to-day  to  remember. 

^  It  is  a  significant  fact,  due  primarily  to  geographical  considera- 
tions, that  only  those  European  nations  with  an  ocean  frontage 
have  been  of  world-importance  (Portugal,  Spain,  Holland,  France, 
England).  Other  northern  Europeans  —  Sweden,  Denmark,  Prus- 
sia, Russia  —  might  perhaps  have  played  a  greater  role  in  th' 
sailing-ship  days  had  they  not  been  engaged  constantly  in  local 
warfare.  As  it  was,  Sweden  and  Denmark  did  make  some 
attempts  at  colonising,  more  notably  the  former  on  the  American 
Continent,  the  latter  in  the  West  Indies  and  in  West  Africa  —  but 
such  attempts  were  trifling.  Italy,  with  all  its  wonderful  traditions 
of  the  trading  Republics,  has  had  no  influence  on  world-history 
because  it  was  shut  in  by  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  To  effect 
any  historical  mission  the  open  sea  is  a  prime  necessity.  Japan  well 
understands  this. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  287 

But  time  was  needed  iri  those  unscientific  days 
to  accomplish  far-reaching  work.  Therefore  though 
Europe  discovered  practically  the  whole  outer  world  in 
so  few  years,  the  work  of  conquest  has  gone  on  unend- 
ingly from  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  down 
to  within  memory  of  the  present  day.  Though  the 
same  motive  inspired  the  white  invaders  as  had  inspired 
the  early  coloured  invaders  of  Europe,  the  desire  for  loot 
and  nothing  else,  they  accomplished  their  end,  as  we 
have  said,  by  a  new  means  —  by  using  the  ocean  as  their 
highroad  and  not  dry  land.  This  gave  him  the  price- 
less advantage  of  striking  before  his  presence  was  pro- 
perly understood,  and  withal  invested  him  with  terrify- 
ing importance.  His  very  human  motives,  his  desire 
for  wealth,  were  recognised  as  natural;  and  as,  save  in 
the  Atlantic  Settlements,  where  wandering  and  warlike 
tribes  alone  opposed  him,  he  showed  no  great  desire  to 
settle  on  the  soil  and  cultivate  the  soil  —  the  one  thing 
which  is  considered  by  all  men  of  colour  as  conferring 
real  ownership  and  insuring  permanency  —  his  presence 
was  looked  upon  mainly  as  transitory.^  He  was  there- 
fore a  suzerain  rather  than  a  sovereign,  and  as  all  men 
of  colour  from  time  immemorial  have  always  considered 
that  there  is  nothing  derogatory  in  acknowledging  as 

^  Agriculture  —  the  tilling  of  the  soil  —  is  not  only  the  sole  real 
title  to  a  soil  but  the  only  means  of  permanently  holding  it.  Thus 
if  the  Red  Indians  had  learnt  agriculture  from  the  first  European 
settlers  in  North  America  they  would  soon  have  been  numerous  enough 
to  bar  all  progress  west.  And  conversely,  though  the  Indians 
of  Mexico,  Central  America,  Peru  and  other  South  American 
States  were  atrociously  treated,  they  could  not  be  exterminated 
because  of  the  numbers  which  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  had 
won  for  them.  That  the  tilling  of  the  soil  is  in  the  last  analy- 
sis the  best  title  to  that  soil  in  the  face  of  all  odds,  is  self- 
evident. 


288      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

such  anyone  who  accumulates  a  striking  force  against 
which  it  would  be  vain  to  contend,  the  idea  quickly 
spread  in  many  lands  that  poHcy  demanded  temporary 
submission  to  this  powerful  newcomer.  He  was  an  evil 
which  had  to  be  tolerated  for  the  time  being  —  an  evil 
which  would  infallibly  disappear,  as  other  evils  had  done. 
In  no  case  can  it  truly  be  said  of  the  white  man,  save  in 
America,  that  his  presence  was  looked  upon  as  perma- 
nent; and  this  fact  at  the  present  moment  also  acquires 
special  significance.^ 

This    revival    of   the  old    militant    barbarianism  of 

*  Captain  Mahan  puts  this  so  well  in  The  Influence  of  Sea-Power 
upon  History,  Chap.  I.,  that  the  passage  merits  quotation:  — 

"In  earlier  times  the  merchant  seaman,  seeking  for  trade  in  new 
and  unexplored  regions,  made  his  gain  at  risk  of  life  and  liberty 
from  suspicious  or  hostile  nations,  and  jvas  under  great  delays 
in  collecting  a  full  and  profitable  freight.  He  therefore  intui- 
tively sought  at  the  far  end  of  his  trade  route  one  or  more 
stations,  to  be  given  to  him  by  force  or  favour,  where  he  could  fix 
himself  or  his  agents  in  reasonable  secuqty,  where  his  ships  could 
lie  in  safety,  and  where  the  merchantable  products  of  the  land 
could  be  continually  collecting,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  home 
fleet  which  should  carry  them  to  the  mother-country.  As  there  was 
immense  gain,  as  well  as  much  risk,  in  these  early  voyages,  such 
estabhshments  naturally  multiplied  and  grew  until  they  became 
colonies;  whose  ultimate  development  and  success  depended 
upon  the  genius  and  policy  of  the  nation  from  which  they  sprang, 
and  from  a  very  great  part  of  the  history,  and  particularly 
the  sea  history  of  the  world.  All  colonies  had  not  the  simple  and 
natural  birth  and  growth  above  described.  Many  were'  more 
formal,  and  purely  political,  in  their  conception  and  founding,  the 
act  of  the  rulers  of  the  people  rather  than  of  private  individ- 
uals; but  the  trading-station  with  its  after  expansion,  the  work  simply 
of  the  adventurer  seeking  gain,  was  in  its  reasons  and  essence  the 
same  as  the  elaborately  organised  and  chartered  colony.  In 
both  cases  the  mother-country  had  won  a  foothold  in  a  foreign 
land,  seeking  a  new  outlet  for  what  it  had  to  sell,  a  new  sphere 
for  its  shipping,  more  employment  for  its  people,  more  com- 
fort and  wealth  for  itself." 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  289 

Europe,  though  it  was  now  masked  by  pleasant  fictions, 
was  the  fitting  apotheosis  of  a  long-worshipped  doctrine 
of  force.  It  was  force  which  had  given  the  first- 
fruits  of  empire  in  Europe;  it  was  the  consoHdation 
and  standardisation  of  force  which  had  swept  back 
invaders  and  made  nations  out  of  mixed  races;  it  was 
the  worship  of  force  which  sent  down  in  ships  to  the 
sea  unending  companies  and  battalions  of  men.  Sole 
among  all  these  many  adventurous  bands,  which  for  the 
sake  of  profit  bore  every  privation  and  faced  every 
danger,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  prompted  by  more 
altruistic  motives;  and  that  America  can  to-day  view 
Asia  and  Africa  from  a  special  standpoint  is  therefore 
perhaps  clearly  justified.  But  into  the  rest  of  Europe 
so  deep  had  this  other  spirit  eaten,  that  the  lure  of  gold 
was  really  the  leading  motive  in  all  those  far-reaching 
struggles  for  foreign  empire  which  culminated  in  the 
Napoleonic  wars  and  found  England  at  their  close 
unquestionably  the  victor.^ 

^  In  his  History  of  Europe,  Alison  in  his  preface  has  the 
following  remarkable  outburst  on  continental  jealousy:  — 

"While  justice  requires,  however,  that  this  general  praise 
should  be  bestowed  on  the  continental  and  transatlantic  writers 
who  have  treated  of  this  period,  there  is  one  particular  which 
it  is  impossible  to  pass  over  without  an  expression  of  a  different 
kind.  Of  whatever  party,  nation,  or  shade  of  opinion,  they 
seem  all  at  bottom  imbued  with  a  profound  hatred  of  this 
country,  and,  in  consequence,  they  generally  ascribe  to  the 
British  cabinet  a  dark  or  Macchiavellian  policy,  in  matters  where 
it  is  well  known  to  every  person  in  England,  and  will  be  obvious 
to  posterity,  they  were  regulated  by  very  different  motives,  and 
often  proceeded,  from  inexperience  of  warlike  measures,  without 
any  fixed  principle  at  all.  The  existence  of  so  general  and 
unfounded  a  prejudice,  in  so  many  authors,  of  such  great  and 
varied  ability,  would  be  inexplicable  if  we  did  not  reflect  on  the 
splendid     post    which    England     occupied     throughout     the    whole 


290       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

By  the  middle  of  last  century  the  force  of  this  grand 
and  remarkable  movement  had  spent  itself,  and  hence- 
forth matters  moved  more  leisurely.  But  still  the 
tradition  remained  and  was  acted  upon  whenever 
possible.  For  the  inventions  of  the  scientific  age  — 
steamers,  railways,  telegraphs  —  permitted  the  white 
conquerors  to  extend  and  strengthen  their  hold  in  alien 
lands  and  apparently  to  make  such  rights  incontestable. 
Yet  they  were  by  no  means  doing  so  in  many  conquered 
regions,  for  very  manifest  reasons. 

For  the  very  rapidity  with  which  modern  inventions 
now  enabled  men  to  come  and  go  —  the  very  fact  that 
the  difference  between  white  and  coloured  was  made 
unmistakably  clear  by  this  process  —  emphasised  the 
transitory  nature  of  Europe's  dominion.  Here,  indeed, 
lies  the  weakness  of  coming  by  sea  to  alien  lands  which 
are  already  densely  populated ;  here,  indeed,  is  an  aspect 
of  sea-power  that  has  been  but  little  remarked  upon 
even  by  that  great  student,  Mahan.  For  true  conquest 
in  Asia  —  that  is,  assimilation  —  can  undoubtedly  only 
be  made  by  advancing  slowly  by  land,  as  Russia  has  done, 
and  to  accomplish  even  that  one  must  possess  enormous 
and  quickly-expanding  numbers.  And  it  is  this  last 
fact  which  completes  the  explanation  why  the  whole 

struggle,  and  recollect  that,  in  nations  equally  as  individuals,  the 
conferring  of  obligations  too  often  engenders  no  other  feeling 
but  that  of  antipathy;  that  no  compliment  is  so  flattering,  because 
none  is  so  sincere,  as  the  vituperation  of  an  adversary  who  has 
been  inspired  with  dread;  and  that,  though  the  successful  party 
in  a  strife  is  always  secretly  flattered  by  the  praises  bestowed  on 
his  antagonists,  it  is  too  much  to  expect  of  human  magnanimity 
a  similar  feeling  in  those  to  whom  fortune  has  proved  adverse." 
The  real  explanation  of  continental  jealousy  must  be  sought 
in  the  fact  that  Europe  —  save  Russia  —  is  a  water-locked  continent 
of  which  England  was  at  last  well  understood  to  hold  the  key. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  291 

coloured  world  is  now  in  the  throes  of  an  agitation 
which  must  necessarily  grow  from  year  to  year.  It  is 
not  merely  because  one  Asiatic  Power  has  taught  all 
other  kindred  peoples  that  the  white  man  can  now  be 
repaid  in  his  own  coin,  but  it  is  because  the  inherently 
weak  nature  of  European  claims  are  at  last  properly  and 
universally  understood.  Men  now  fully  understand  that 
it  is  not  mere  suzerainty,  but  actual  ownership,  which 
is  claimed  by  the  white  man  wherever  he  has  raised  his 
flag;  and  since  it  has  been  clearly  proved  by  past 
history  that  this  virtual  slavery  of  the  coloured  man  is 
unnatural  and  can  never  lead  to  the  fusion  of  the  races, 
it  is  only  just  and  logical  to  admit  that  the  attitude  of 
the  man  of  colour  in  demanding  back  rights  long 
usurped  by  intruders,  is  one  which  is  bound  in  the  end 
to  be  crowned  with  signal  success. 

The  very  ease  with  which  many  so-called  conquests 
have  been  made,  as  late  as  the  nineteenth  century,  is 
explained  by  this  native  belief  that  it  was  suzerainty,  and 
not  permanent  sovereignty,  which  was  involved  — 
that  no  question  had  arisen  calling  for  a  struggle  a 
Voutrance.  In  the  table  of  statistics  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica  recording  the  partition  of  Africa,  we  find 
the  following  figures,  which  surely,  in  the  light  of 
recent  events,  make  tragic  rather  than  comforting 
reading :  — 

EUROPEAN   POWERS   IN   AFRICA. 

Sq.  Miles 

French  territories  in  Africa  (exclusive  of  the  Sahara)    .     3,804,974 
British  (inclusive  of  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  River    ] 

Colonies,  but  exclusive  of  the  Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan,  |  2,713,910 

610,000  sq.  miles) J 

German 933,38o 

Congo  Free  State 900,000 

Portuguese 790,124 

Italian 188,500 

Total 9,330,888 


292      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Considering  that  the  major  part  of  all  this  vast  area  of 
nearly  ten  million  square  miles  was  formally  pre-empted 
subsequent  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  of  1878  —  that  is, 
after  that  Congress  in  which  the  cynical  yet  sapient 
Bismarck  pointed  to  Africa  as  the  sole  means  of  satis- 
fying the  insatiable  European  greed  for  territory  —  the 
surprising  nature  of  such  so-called  "conquests"  is 
evident.  They  have  been  a  series  of  spoliations,  carried 
out  mainly  through  the  ignorance  of  those  despoiled. 
That  they  have  no  permanency  about  them  need  not 
be  doubted.  Of  this  we  have  a  striking  example  in  the 
manner  in  which  the  once  celebrated  German,  Dr.  Carl 
Peters,  decended  on  Zanzibar  and  other  African  terri- 
tories with  blank  treaty  forms  in  his  pocket,  fully 
prepared  to  draw  up  any  document  which  under 
specious  disguises  would  cede  the  right  of  eminent 
domain  to  his  Emperor.  The  marks  set  on  these 
documents  by  ignorant  native  chiefs  as  the  price  for 
a  few  bottles  of  intoxicants  and  a  few  antiquated 
weapons  nominally  gave  away  territories  as  large,  if 
not  as  populous,  as  European  kingdoms.  In  coming 
times  the  absurdity  of  such  transactions  will  be  made 
very  clear. 

Sufficient  insistence  has  now  been  laid  upon  the  really 
extraordinary  nature  of  European  expansion  over  the 
world  since  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century; 
and  enough  has  also  been  said  in  many  parts  of  this 
inquiry  to  show  that  the  pendulum  is  already  swinging 
the  other  way.  In  the  Far  East  the  return-swing  of 
the  pendulum  is  clear;  in  the  Middle  East  it  has  com- 
menced; and  elsewhere  smaller  oscillations  have  to  be 
noted  —  for  instance,  in  Egypt,  in  Morocco,  in 
Algeria,  in  the  French  Soudan.     It  only  remains  to  add 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  293 

a  few  words  more,  dealing  with  general  principles  rather 
than  with  particular  instances. 

Real  and  lasting  stability  and  satisfaction  in  the 
world  of  colour,  as  has  already  been  repeatedly  said, 
can  only  be  secured  by  the  gradual  establishment  of  a 
balance  of  power  which  shall  exist  independent  of 
European  nations,  so  that  that  balance  may  itself  directly 
affect  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe.^  That  alone 
would  be  a  real  guarantee  of  a  permanent  peace :  that 
alone  should  be  the  goal  to  be  aimed  at  by  intelligent 
statesmen.  For  just  as  industrially  the  real  coloured 
peril  does  not  lie  in  the  possible  movement  of  labour  from 
Asia  to  other  lands,  since  that  can  be  restrained,  but  in 
the  almost  certain  rriovement  of  capital  from  Europe  to 
Asia,  with  its  resultant  vast  development  of  competing 
Asiatic  industries,  so  politically  does  the  real  peril  not 
lie  in  the  fact  that  Asia  (or  Africa)  desires  to  destroy, 
or  even  to  harm  Europe;  but  that  Asia  is  to-day 
fully  cognisant  of  the  fact  that  the  present  peace  hinges 
on  artificial  and  temporary  arrangements  which  are 
based  on  no  proper  attention  to  racial  considerations, 
but  which  have  been  carelessly  entered  into,  and  which 
are  manifestly  unjust,  since,  to  quote  one  glaring 
instance,  England's  Asiatic  allies,  the  Japanese,  are 
left  permanently  in  a  position  superior  to  England's 
Asiatic  subjects  —  the  Indians.     How  long,  one  may  here 

^  The  following  is  an  able  definition  of  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe,  which  it  has  become  necessary  to  repeat  in  Asia  :  — 

"Since  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  all  European 
Governments  have  adhered  to  that  principle  of  international 
politics  which  has  so  largely  shaped  European  history  —  the 
balance  of  power.  This  principle  implies  that  no  State  shall 
become  so  powerful  as  to  menace  the  safety  of  the  other 
States." 


294       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

ask,  would  any  men,  save  those  imbued  with  the 
Eastern  capacity  for  long-suffering,  with  the  great 
Eastern  belief  in  final  adjustments  from  the  operation 
of  natural  laws,  tolerate  such  a  condition  of  affairs  ? 
The  mass  of  present  discontents  and  other  combustible 
matter,  should  it  ever  burst  into  flames,  will  consume 
all  existing  paper  guarantees  with  the  speed  of  a  bonfire 
—  and  it  is  only  right  and  logical  that  this  should  be  so. 
But  prudence  demands  that  a  wiser  policy  be  pursued 
forthwith  towards  both  China  and  India,  which  between 
them  to-day  possess  nearly  one-half  of  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  the  world.  In  the  Far  East,  China  must  be 
made  to  balance  against  Japan,  as  she  once  did ;  in  the 
Nearer  East,  India  of  her  own  strength  must  be  made 
to  balance  against  the  chaotic  world  lying  beyond  her 
frontiers  and  reaching  to  Egypt  and  Turkey,  as  well 
as  against  any  new  European  menace.  That  this  is 
logical,  that  this  is  sound,  that  this  is  in  the  highest 
sense  expedient,  no  one  can  possibly  deny;  and  it  is 
well  to  know  that  if  such  a  view  does  not  soon  enter 
into  practical  politics  in  England  there  are  others  who, 
using  the  European  lever  in  a  way  which  easily  suggests 
itself,  will  know  how  to  do  so,  and  by  so  doing  extract 
therefrom  for  themselves  lasting  profit  and  advantage. 
Some  Power  is  destined  to  champion  Asia,  and  the 
Power  which  can  first  do  so  and  win  real  sympathy, 
will  virtually  control  the  rest  of  the  world. 

For  it  is  perfectly  impossible  to  believe  that  matters  are 
going  to  remain  very  long  as  they  are  at  present.  So  long 
as  England  is  small  enough  and  Wind  enough  to  suppose 
that  a  temporary  arrangement,  such  as  the  Japanese 
alliance,  definitely  secures  the  position  in  Asia,  so  long 
will  it  be  necessary  to  admit  the  possibility  of  a  complete 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  295 

change  in  the  political  geography  of  more  than  half  the 
world.  The  prospect  of  such  a  change  is  no  mad 
dream;  it  will  be  the  logical  outcome  of  the  present 
situation;  it  can  only  be  averted  by  making  both  India 
and  China  modern  empires  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
words. 

Only  the  settling  of  comprehensive  programmes  and 
their  rapid  enforcement  can  bring  about  the  desired 
change.  Unless  India  speedily  plays  her  proper  role 
in  relation  to  Afghanistan,  Persia,  Asia  Minor  and 
Egypt  —  the  role  which  Lord  Beaconsfield  dreamed 
of  but  never  dared  really  to  attempt  —  English 
domination  of  the  Suez  route  must  ultimately  end. 
For  it  is  well  to  understand  clearly  that  the  real 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  that 
great  potential  storm-centre,  is  no  longer  in  Europe, 
but  in  Asia  Minor,  and  that  the  pressure  of  white 
Europe  on  the  conquerors  of  Constantinople  is  destined 
soon  to  become  irresistible.  European  Turkey,  already 
reduced  to  the  shabby  pittance  of  26,018  square  miles 
of  territory,  is  plainly  living  on  the  shadow  of  her 
past;  and  just  as  the  sacred  banner  and  relics  of  the 
Prophet  were  transferred  from  the  Arabian  Princes 
at  Cairo  to  St.  Sophia  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
so  in  the  twentieth  century  they  may  be  transferred 
back  again  to  the  land  of  their  former  custodians,  there- 
by wiping  out  by  one  signal  act  the  constructive  work 
of  decades  and  crystallising  into  definite  form  the 
lurking  menace  which  observers  have  already  detected 
in  every  region  of  the  Near  and  Middle  East.  It  is 
only  by  a  consummate  policy  —  by  a  genuine  alliance 
between  interests  which  should  be  identical  —  that  such 
a  storm  can  be  averted. 


296      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

Unfortunately,  however,  whenever  it  is  a  question  of 
considering  exhaustively  the  large  general  problems  of 
the  world,  among  the  English-speaking  peoples  it  is 
rather  the  philosopher,  sitting  in  his  study  at  the  close  of 
a  long  life,  who  wins  attention  sooner  than  other  men, 
and  whose  academic  discussions,  tinged  as  they  always 
are  with  the  false  and  decadent  intellectualism  of  a 
vanished  civilisation,  influence  perceptibly  practical 
statesmen  who  should  have  but  one  view-point  — that  is, 
what  may  be  called  the  Hebraic  view-point  —  the  belief 
in  responsibility  to  God  and  to  no  one  else.  Thus 
to-day  it  would  actually  seem  that  the  melancholy 
conclusions  which  Professor  Pearson  reached  twenty 
years  ago  regarding  Europe  and  its  civilisation  are 
those  on  which  British  statesmen  base  their  decadent 
diplomacy  —  decadent  here  in  the  modern  literary 
sense;  that  is,  without  vigour  or  originality.  Professor 
Pearson,  after  having  exhaustively  reviewed  the  position 
throughout  the  strange  world  of  colour  which  circles 
the  earth,  wrote  the  following  summary :  — 

"Summing  up,  then,  we  seem  to  find  that  we  are 
slowly  but  demonstrably  approaching  what  we  may 
regard  as  the  age  of  reason  or  of  a  sublimated  humanity; 
and  that  this  will  give  us  a  great  deal  that  we  are 
expecting  from  it  —  well-ordered  politics,  security  to 
labour,  education,  freedom  from  gross  superstitions, 
improved  health  and  longer  life,  the  destruction  of 
privilege  in  society  and  of  caprice  in  family  life,  better 
guarantees  for  the  peace  of  the  world,  and  enhanced 
regard  for  life  and  property  when  war  unfortunately 
breaks  out.  It  is  possible  to  conceive  the  administration 
of  the  most  advanced  States  so  equitable  and  efficient 
that  no  one  will  even  desire  seriously  to  disturb  it.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  seems  reasonable  to  assume  that 
religion  will  gradually  pass  into  a  recognition  of  ethical 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  297 

precepts  and  a  graceful  habit  of  morality;  that  the 
mind  will  occupy  itself  less  and  less  with  works  of 
genius,  and  more  and  more  with  trivial  results  and 
ephemeral  discussions;  that  husband  and  wife,  parents 
and  children,  will  come  to  mean  less  to  one  another; 
and  that  romantic  feeling  will  die  out  in  consequence; 
that  the  old  will  increase  upon  the  young;  that  the  two 
great  incentives  to  effort,  the  desire  to  use  power  for 
noble  ends,  and  the  desire  to  be  highly  esteemed,  will 
come  to  promise  less  to  capable  men  as  the  field  of 
human  energy  is  crowded;  and  generally,  that  the  world 
will  be  left  without  deep  convictions  or  enthusiasm, 
without  the  regenerating  influence  of  the  ardour  for 
political  reform,  and  the  fervour  of  pious  faith  which 
have  quickened  men  for  centuries  past  as  nothing  else 
has  quickened  them,  with  a  passion  purifying  the  soul. 
It  would  clearly  be  unreasonable  to  murmur  at  changes 
that  express  the  realisation  by  the  world  of  its  highest 
thought,  whether  the  issue  be  good  or  bad.  The  etio- 
lated religion  which  it  seems  likely  we  shall  subside 
upon;  the  complicated  but  on  the  whole  satisfactory 
State  mechanism,  that  will  prescribe  education,  limit 
industry,  and  direct  enjoyment,  will  become,  when  they 
are  once  arrived  at,  natural  and  satisfactory.  The 
decHne  of  the  higher  classes  as  an  influence  in  society, 
the  organisation  of  the  inferior  races  in  menacing  forms 
throughout  the  Tropical  Zone,  are  the  natural  result  of 
principles  that  we  cannot  disown  if  we  would.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  a  conservatively-minded  monarch  to 
reconstruct  the  nobility  of  the  eighteenth  century  in 
the  twentieth;  and  even  now  no  practical  statesman 
could  dream  of  arresting  Chinese  power  or  Hindoo  or 
negro  expansion  by  wholesale  massacres.  The  world  is 
becoming  too  fibreless,  too  weak,  and  too  good  to 
contemplate  or  to  carry  out  great  changes  which  imply 
lamentable  suffering.  It  trusts  more  and  more  to 
experience;    less  and  less  to  insight  and  will."  ^ 

^  Mattonal  Life  and  Character,  Chap.  VI. 


THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR       ch. 

Is  this  remarkable  soliloquy,  the  product  of  a  pene- 
trating intellect,  truer  to-day  than  it  was  yesterday  ? 
And,  more  important  still,  has  this  pessimist's  stand- 
point begun  to  influence  politicians  in  their  non-European 
policies  ?  Undoubtedly,  within  certain  limits,  it  is  more 
true;  undoubtedly  it  is  influencing  politicians,  not  so 
much  because  of  the  ethical  and  social  changes  which 
have  slowly  come  in  Europe,  but  because  of  the  false 
political  conditions  maintained  throughout  Asia  and 
Africa  —  conditions  which  must  ultimately  react  on  the 
higher  races  themselves  and  force  them  to  a  position 
from  whence  they  may  emerge  again  and  again  not  with 
peace  with  honour,  but  peace  with  disgrace.^  Whilst, 
then,  it  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  agree  with  the 
gloomy  assumptions  on  which  this  investigator  bases  his 
deductions  —  that  the  age  of  reason  means  for  Europe 
an  age  of  decay  —  it  cannot  but  be  admitted  that  the 
political  deductions  drawn  regarding  the  relations  which 
will  come  into  existence  between  the  coloured  world  and 
the  white  world  already  do  not  fall  wide  of  the  mark, 
because  an  ignorant  attitude  is  so  deHberately  encour- 
aged in  regard  to  matters  which  must  exercise  a  power- 
ful reflex  action  on  Europe  itself. 

In  other  words,  the  present  writer  sees  in  this  academic 
pessimism  the  natural  product  of  a  race  of  intellectuals, 
who,  carefully  preserving  a  sort  of  "apostolic  succes- 
sion" from  the  days  of  Homer  to  the  present  day,  really 
believe  that  the  disappearance  of  their  classical  ideals 
means  the  submersion  of  Europe,  because  for  them  no 
hope  for  their  peculiar  intellectualism  is  no  hope  at  all. 

^  There  is  now  no  doubt,  for  instance,  that  the  Portsmouth 
Treaty  of  August,  1905,  must  be  called  a  "peace  with  disgrace" 
for  the  Russians. 


V  GENERAL   CONCLUSIONS  299 

The  decay  of  a  religion  which,  in  the  last  analysis,  is  not 
a  reHgion  but  an  ecclesiastical  system,  to  such  men  im- 
plies moral  death,  whereas  such  decay  is  really  the  fore- 
runner of  some  new  and  most  beneficial  growth.  The 
destruction  of  privilege  —  of  feudal  privilege,  mark  well 
—  is  to  such  men  another  untoward  sign,  whereas  in 
reality  that  destruction  is  the  greatest  mark  of  real  prog- 
ress that  has  ever  been  seen.  The  growth  of  some  State 
mechanism  which  shall  secure  complete  economic  justice 
for  the  millions  is  similarly  deprecated,  when  in  the  ears 
of  the  present  generation  should  surely  only  ring  the 
echoes  of  the  piteous  hunger  —  the  cries  of  the  countless 
millions  who  have  cruelly  starved  in  Europe  during  its 
twenty  centuries  of  Christianity,  and  who,  as  a  class,  are 
only  now  —  after  2,000  years  —  being  seriously  thought 
of.  The  decline  of  the  higher  classes  as  an  influence, 
instead  of  being  applauded  —  the  higher  classes  being 
higher  here  only  in  the  false  sense  and  not  in  the  true 
and  proper  sense  —  is  held  as  an  evil  sign,  when  in  reality 
all  higher  classes  can  be  nothing  in  the  main  but  the 
heirs  of  a  purse-proud  and  ignorant  plutocracy  of  former 
days.  Thus  arguing  from  a  series  of  premises  which 
are  falsely  used,  these  pessimist  inquiries  culminate  in 
the  expressed  belief  that  for  the  white  races  the  end  of 
their  glory  is  virtually  in  sight. 

For,  in  another  place,^  Professor  Pearson  ventures  on 
another  forecast,  which  locked  on  immediately  to  the 
one  above,  gains  weight  with  every  sentence :  — 

"  Now,  it  is  surely  probable  that  the  European 
nations,  with  their  production  limited,  and  its  price 
enhanced  by  SociaUsm,  and  with  exchange  among  them- 
selves fettered  by  Protection,  would  find  themselves  at 

^National  Life  and  Character,  Chap.  II. 


300      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

a  great  disadvantage  in  competing  with  a  really  in- 
dustrial China. ^  The  resources  of  China  are  immense, 
the  capacity  of  its  people  for  toil  is  almost  unlimited, 
and  their  wants  are  of  the  slenderest.  The  great  mass 
of  the  people  lives  ascetically,  and  retains  its  habits, 
even  when  it  is  thrown  among  wasteful  races  like  the 
EngHsh  of  America  and  Australia,  who  despise  and 
distrust  asceticism.  The  organisation  of  labour  appears 
to  be  largely  in  the  hands  of  employers,  who  maintain 
their  ascendency  by  murder.  We  may  assume  all  this 
to  be  modified,  but  we  cannot  assume  the  change  to  be 
so  sudden  and  complete  that  Chinese  industry  will 
conform  to  the  standards  of  the  Western  world.  What 
is  true  of  the  Chinese  is  true  more  or  less  of 
Hindoos  and  negroes.  A  hundred  years  hence,  when 
these  races,  which  are  now  as  two  to  one  to  the  higher, 
shall  be  as  three  to  one;  when  they  have  borrowed  the 
science  of  Europe,  and  developed  their  still  virgin 
worlds,  the  pressure  of  their  competition  upon  the 
white  man  will  be  irresistible.  He  will  be  driven  from 
every  neutral  market  and  forced  to  confine  himself 
within  his  own.  Ultimately  he  will  have  to  conform 
to  the  Oriental  standard  of  existence,  or  —  and  this  is  the 
probable  solution  —  to  stint  the  increase  of  population. 
If  he  does  this  by  methods  that  are  inconsistent  with 

^  It  is  hardly  necessary  here  to  point  out  the  stupid  fallacy  which 
Professor  Pearson  uses  as  so  many  others  have  used  before  him, 
viz.,  that  because  the  standard  of  living  has  been  lovi^  in  China 
in  the  past,  it  is  aWays  going  to  continue  low,  and  that  con- 
sequently the  relative  cost  of  production  in  China  will  always 
be  very  low.  Nothing  is  further  from  the  truth,  and  on  this 
matter  the  writer  can  speak  with  some  little  authority.  Briefly,  in 
fifteen  years,  i.e.,  since  the  Chino-Japanese  war  of  1894-95,  prices 
in  China  have  risen  nearly  100  per  cent.,  and  are  still  rapidly  rising. 

The  Oriental  standard  of  existence  will  rise,  just  as  the 
European  standard  has  risen,  with  the  growth  of  wealth.  The  habit 
of  making  inexorable  economic  laws  only  apply  to  Europe  is  another 
grotesque  mediaeval  survival. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  301 

morality,  the  very  life-springs  of  the  race  will  be  tainted. 
If.  he  does  it  by  a  patient  self-restraint  that  shows  itself 
in  a  limitation  to  late  marriages,  national  character  will 
be  unimpaired,  but  material  decline  will  have  com- 
menced. With  civilisation  equally  diffused,  the  most 
populous  country  must  ultimately  be  the  most  powerful; 
and  the  preponderance  of  China  over  any  rival  —  even 
over  the  United  States  of  America  —  is  Hkely  to  be 
overwhelming. 

"Let  us  conceive  the  leading  European  nations  to  be 
stationary,  while  the  Black  and  Yellow  Belt,  including 
China,  Malaysia,  India,  Central  Africa,  and  Tropical 
America,  is  all  teeming  with  life,  developed  by  in- 
dustrial enterprise,  fairly  well  administered  by  native 
governments,  and  owning  the  better  part  of  the  carrying 
trade  of  the  world.  Can  anyone  suppose  that,  in  such 
a  condition  of  political  society,  the  habitual  temper  of 
mind  in  Europe  would  not  be  profoundly  changed .? 
Depression,  hopelessness,  a  disregard  of  invention  and 
improvement  would  replace  the  sanguine  confidence  of 
races  that  at  present  are  always  panting  for  new  worlds 
to  conquer.  Here  and  there,  it  may  be,  the  more 
adventurous  would  profit  by  the  tradition  of  old 
supremacy  to  get  their  services  accepted  in  the  new 
nations,  but  as  a  rule  there  would  be  no  outlet  for 
energy,  no  future  for  statesmanship.  The  despondency 
of  the  English  people,  when  their  dream  of  conquest 
in  France  was  dissipated,  was  attended  with  a  complete 
decay  of  thought,  with  civil  war,  and  with  a  standing 
still,  or  perhaps  a  decline  of  population,  and  to  a  less 
degree  of  wealth.  The  discovery  of  the  New  World, 
the  resurrection  of  old  literature,  the  trumpet  of  the 
Reformation  scarcely  quickened  the  national  pulse  with 
real  life  till  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Then,  however, 
there  was  revival,  because  there  were  possibilities  of 
golden  conquest  in  America,  speculative  treasures  in 
the  re-animate  learning  of  Greece,  and  a  new  faith  that 
seemed  to  thrust  aside  the  curtain  drawn  by  priests,  and 


302       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

to  open  heaven.  It  is  conceivable  that  our  later  world 
may  find  itself  deprived  of  all  that  it  valued  on  earth, 
of  the  pageantry  of  subject  provinces  and  the  reality 
of  commerce,  while  it  has  neither  a  disinterred  literature 
to  amuse  it,  nor  a  vitalised  religion  to  give  it  spiritual 
strength." 

And  farther  on :  *  —  "It  is  now  more  than  prob- 
able that  our  science,  our  civihsation,  our  great  and 
real  advance  in  the  practice  of  government  are  only 
bringing  us  nearer  to  the  day  when  the  lower  races  will 
predominate  in  the  world,  when  the  higher  races  will 
lose  their  noblest  elements,  when  we  shall  ask  nothing 
from  the  day  but  to  live,  nor  from  the  future  but  that 
we  may  not  deteriorate." 

It  is  well  to  ponder  over  these  eloquent,  illuminating, 
yet  amazing  words  —  words  which,  because  they  con- 
found false  ideals  with  true  ideals,  because  they  encour- 
age men  really  to  believe  that  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World,  the  Reformation,  the  revival  of  Greek  literature, 
and  savage  foreign  conquest  with  all  its  accompanying 
brutality,  were  anything  more  than  historical  periods, 
incite  statesmen  deliberately  to  undertake  false  actions. 

For  the  most  lamentable  feature  of  the  day  is  that  at 
a  time  when  foresight  and  political  instinct  have  become 
of  such  supreme  importance,  there  still  exists  only  a 
choice  between  two  political  policies  advocated  by  two 
radically  different  classes  of  men  —  first,  the  old,  stupid 
policy  of  force  without  reason,  advocated  by  men 
steeped  in  the  false  intellectualism  of  vanished  days, 
men  whose  very  presence  in  Asia  or  Africa  is  an  incite- 
ment to  revolt  —  and,  second,  the  new  so-called 
humanist  or  pacificist  poHcy,  which,  confounding  theory 
with  fact  and  unaware  of  the  peculiar  regionahsm 
which  climate  and  soil  infallibly  impose,  is  willing  to 

^  National  Life  and  Character,  Chap.  VI. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  303 

put  into  practice  in  distant  lands  academic  formulas 
which  have  not  yet  been  proved  true  even  in  Europe.^ 
That  a  third  policy  should  be  possible  —  a  policy 
scientific,  insomuch  as  Orientalism  with  its  inherent 
hedonism  would  find  a  proper  place;  a  policy  dictated 
by  true  Liberalism ;  let  us  say  a  Puritan  policy,  because 

^  It  would  be  extremely  instructive,  and  very  valuable  to  man- 
kind at  large,  if  some  English  economist,  instead  of  analysing 
the  present  day  expenditure  of  nations,  and  animadverting  on 
that  unfortunate  subject  —  the  burden  of  armaments  —  were  to 
compile  a  volume  dealing  exhaustively  with  the  question  of 
national  finance  in  Europe  since  the  discovery  of  America.  If 
the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  were  considered  from  this  standpoint  much 
good  would  be  done,  for  it  would  be  found  that  it  is  not  un- 
productive expenditure  which  has  grievously  wounded,  and 
even  destroyed  nations,  but  simply  bad  finance.  Spain  was 
certainly  ruined  more  by  this  one  cause  than  by  military  defeat;  but 
by  far  the  most  interesting  case  is  the  case  of  France.  French 
finance,  unlike  English  finance,  which  in  spite  of  political  cor- 
ruption at  certain  periods  has  been  very  good  for  many  centuries, 
has  been  periodically  bad.  Thus  to  go  no  farther  than  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  at  the  accession  of  Henry  IV. 
of  Navarre,  the  public  debt  was  estimated  at  345,000,000  Itvres, 
a  truly  enormous  sum  for  those  days.  As  the  rate  of  inter- 
est varied  from  eight  to  ten  per  cent.,  it  absorbed  the  whole 
of  the  annual  revenue,  which  was  not  more  than  30,000,000 
livres.  The  careful  administration  of  the  Duke  of  Sully,  the 
most  conscientious,  if  not  the  most  able  of  French  adminis- 
trators, reduced  the  national  debt  by  nearly  one-half,  and,  until 
the  reckless  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  all  went  well.  From  thence 
onward  the  story  of  French  finance  becomes  the  story  of  France, 
culminating  in  the  drama  of  the  Revolution.  Nothing  illus- 
trates so  well  the  immense  natural  wealth  of  this  imperial  coun- 
try as  the  history  of  its  reckless  finance.  Had  France  been 
economically  administered,  her  natural  wealth  would  have  made 
of  her  the  bank  —  and  therefore  the  arbiter  —  of  Europe  centuries  ago, 
when  the  superior  numbers  which  she  has  now  lost  by  Malthusian- 
ising  her  population  would  have  peacefully  afforded  the  necessary 
guarantees. 


304       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

it  is  pure  —  is  not  yet  considered  at  all  save  perhaps  by 
America,  where,  as  we  have  shown  in  another  place, 
the  people  will  not  be  ripe  for  many  years  to  play 
their  true  role  in  world-politics,  and  where  therefore 
any  advocacy  of  a  truly  rational  policy  is  tentative 
rather  than  final,  since  the  whole  strength,  the  whole 
intelligence,  the  whole  instinct  of  the  nation  does  not 
lie  behind  such  advocacy.  Yet  let  us  here  remember  that 
if  there  is  one  Power  whose  whole  future  is  bound 
up  with  Orientalism,  that  Power  is  England. 

Whilst  therefore  local  European  rivalries  continue  to 
receive  an  endless  amount  of  meticulous  attention,  the 
great  world  rolls  onward  towards  developments  which 
if  they  cannot  be  impeded  can  at  least  be  cleverly 
guided,  but  which,  because  they  are  unheeded  or  con- 
temned, must  infallibly  bring  a  large  measure  of  political 
ruin  in  their  train,  and  vastly  change  the  existing 
balance  of  power.  With  countless  scientific  aids  to 
fortify  and  stimulate  them;  with  the  wisdom  of  a 
score  of  centuries  and  the  true  knowledge  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  draw  upon;  with  history  lying 
ready  to  point  the  way,  men  were  never  politically 
blinder  than  to-day,  never  more  sunk  in  localism, 
never  more  absorbed  in  the  trivialities  of  the  hour. 
The  specialists  in  Asiatic  questions  —  the  British 
specialists  —  are  mainly  specialists  after  the  manner  of 
those  Grand  Inquisitioners  of  the  old  Catholic  Church 
in  bygone  days,  who  demanded  either  that  the  True 
Faith  which  they  preached  be  accepted,  or  else  that 
their  victims  be  abandoned  to  the  condign  punishment 
of  an  auto-da-fe.  In  years  to  come  a  wiser  genera- 
tion may  ponder  over  the  extraordinary  moral  in  a 
spirit  of  profound  perplexity;    but  to-day  there  is  no 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  305 

time    or    place    for    such    pondering,    but    only    for 
unrestrained  grief. 

For  England  such  questions  have  long  been  supreme 
questions,  though  men  may  plead  that  such  cannot  be 
the  case;  and  every  day  that  now  passes  adds  a  little 
to  their  urgency.  For  her,  indeed,  these  questions 
of  Asia,  of  Africa,  with  their  teeming  races,  have 
paramount  importance,  in  a  way  that  was  never  the  case 
before.  Her  Empire,  and  indeed  every  vestige  of 
her  power,  is  scattered  so  far  and  so  wide  over  the 
world,  and  is  so  diversified  and  so  materially  affected 
by  every  radical  change  in  the  political  relationship 
between  the  smallest  as  between  the  greatest  of  nations, 
that  no  longer  will  two  virtues  which  have  served  her 
well  in  the  past  —  bravery  and  persistence  —  avail  her 
anything,  unless  the  weight  of  numbers,  the  conflict  of 
ideals  and  aims,  pressing  against  her  are  offset  by  clever- 
ness. The  doctrines  preached  by  men  who  would  see 
in  England  a  copyist  of  the  Roman  Empire  are  false 
doctrines;  between  the  two  empires  there  can  be  no 
real  analogy.^  Rome,  in  spite  of  her  greatness,  fell,  as 
she  deserved  to  fall,  because  she  never  dreamt  of  what 
real  liberty  implied,  and  because  for  her  the  splendour 
of  a  court  was  always  the  happiness  of  a  people.  The 
day  is  fast  approaching  when  all  men  will  be  not  only 
free  but  independent;  and  those  who  still  refuse  to  see 
this  and  trust  to  temporising  measures,  behind  which 

^  The  proud  words,  Civts  Romanus  sum,  are  still  so  constantly 
quoted,  as  if  they  meant  anything  to  the  modem  individualist,  that 
it  would  be  well  to  remember  that  to-day  they  can  only  suggest 
a  Prussian  ideal  such  as  was  recently  proclaimed  by  a  speaker  in 
the  Reichstag  —  that  if  the  Emperor  ordered  it,  any  lieutenant  of 
the  German  Army  would  take  ten  soldiers  and  forcibly  close  the 
seat  of  German  freedom. 


306       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

lurks  the  shadow  of  force,  are  undoubtedly  the  real 
enemies  of  their  country  and  not  the  patriots,  the 
imperiaHsts,  they  so  constantly  proclaim  themselves. 
That  a  leaven  is  at  last  at  work  in  England  to  an 
ever-increasing  extent,  the  history  of  the  last  few  years 
has  made  clear;  but  to  leaven  a  whole  nation  is  the 
work  not  of  a  few  years  but  of  generations,  and  let  us 
remember  that  some  of  those  pregnant  generations  are 
still  unborn. 

For  in  spite  of  certain  good  indications  it  remains 
abundantly  true  that  in  the  main  the  home-staying 
Englishman  still  utterly  fails  to  realise  that  even  his 
own  race,  scattered  over  the  world,  is  to-day  composed 
of  a  large  number  of  varieties  of  men  who  view  with 
very  mixed  feelings,  in  which  a  growing  contempt  finds 
a  prominent  place,  the  self-complacent  dogma,  still  so 
consistently  preached  by  word  of  mouth  and  by  printed 
word,  that  in  world-problems,  in  questions  of  peace 
and  war,  in  affairs  of  honour,  in  matters  of  taste  and 
expediency,  there  is  only  one  orthodox  view-point 
permissible  to  those  who  acknowledge  the  overlordship 
of  the   British   crown. ^     That  view-point  is  still  what 

^  The  Times,  in  an  article  published  in  1909,  makes  the  follow- 
ing good  remarks,  which  are  worthy  of  being  preserved  :  — 

"One  of  the  anomalies  of  our  Empire  —  one  of  the  many  results 
of  the  fact  that  it  has  grown,  and  has  not  been  made  according  to 
any  plan  or  scheme  —  arises  out  of  the  powers  of  the  Crown 
as  to  treaties  and  the  position  of  the  self-governing  colonies. 
Here  theory  seems  to  be  at  variance  with  practice;  the  former 
made  for  a  state  of  things  which  no  longer  exists.  A  new  practice 
is  being  formed ;  it  has  not  yet  found  its  theoretical  exponent.  There 
are  efforts  to  preserve,  as  one  of  the  essentials  of  sovereignty,  the 
unity  of  the  Empire,  while  free  play  is  given  to  the  aspirations  of  the 
Dominions  beyond  the  sea. 

"To   invest  them   with   unlimited   power  of  negotiating  treaties 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  307 

may  be  called  the  aristocratic  or  old-time  view-point. 
It  has  but  little  real  sympathy  with  the  differences 
which  have  grown  up ;  it  believes  that  nothing  different 
can  be  good,  and  because  it  is  so  dogmatic  it  is  wholly 
bad.  Yet  if  the  EngHshman  of  England  would  only 
know  it,  what  has  often  been  wittily  remarked  of  the 
American  —  that  his  is  not  so  much  a  nationality  as 
a  temperament  —  has  to-day  become  partially  true  of 
himself,  for  the  temper  and  temperament  of  men 
overseas  has  inevitably  and  very  sensibly  altered.  This 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  while  the  political  hegemony 
of  the  British  world  remains  nominally  where  it  has 
been  ever  since  the  lessons  of  the  American  Revolution 
were  grudgingly  admitted — that  is,  since  self-government 
was  given  to  the  New  Britains  beyond  the  seas  —  secretly 
the  moral  leadership  has  largely  disappeared,  because 

would  be  to  clothe  them  with  an  international  status,  to  make 
them  sovereign  States,  and  in  the  end,  it  might  be,  to  break  up 
the  Empire.  That  must  be  averted  without  thwarting  the  reason- 
able demands  of  colonial  statesmen  to  be  considered  and  con- 
sulted in  all  that  directly  affects  them. 

"Every  Colonial  Secretary  since  the  'seventies  has  been  con- 
fronted with  this  difficult  problem  in  some  form,  with  the  result  that 
a  fairly  workable  compromise  has  been  established;  not,  indeed, 
a  complete  arrangement,  but  one  which  gives  reasonable  hopes 
that  eventually  all  points  of  difference  will  be  amicably  settled. 
The  history  of  the  struggle  between  two  opposing  forces,  those 
making  for  unity  and  those  tending  towards  decentralisation,  has  not 
yet  been  written. 

"According  to  our  Constitution,  it  rests  with  the  King  to  make 
treaties  of  all  kinds.  In  some  countries  their  validity  depends  upon 
the  approval  of  the  Legislature  or  a  branch  of  it.  Thus  in  the  United 
States  the  assent  of  the  Senate  is  necessary  to  render  treaties  binding. 
When  that  is  given  a  treaty  is  as  valid  as  if  it  were  a  statute.  No  such 
assent  is  with  us  requisite  to  give  effect  to  a  treaty;  that  power  is 
vested  solely  in  the  Crown." 


308      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

England  remains  infected  with  a  feudalism  which  every 

day  finds  new  recruits  from  among  those  who,   able 

to  win  wealth  but  unable  to  think,  are  content  in  their 

ignorance  to  believe  that  nothing  has  really  changed. 

The  rapid  growth  of  other  English  nations,  which  in 

the  end  are  destined  to  exceed  in  numbers,  in  wealth, 

and  possibly  in  intelligence,  the  nation  inhabiting  the 

original  home  of  the  race,  must  in  not  very  distant  days 

shift  the  balance  of  power  between  the  component  parts 

of  the  Empire,  since  the  present  system  has  no  elements 

of  permanency.     New  Zealanders  and  Australians  are 

already  very  different  men  to  home-staying  Englishmen; 

Canadians    and    Africanders    still    more    so;    smaller 

communities,  dotted  in  different  quarters  of  the  globe, 

though    hitherto    accustomed    to    look    solely    to    the 

mother  country  for  guidance  in  almost  all  matters,  are 

rapidly  acquiring,  thanks  to  modern  progress,  their  own 

peculiar  regionalism :    and  though,  of  course,  it  is  only 

on  self-governing  Dominions  that  the  eye  is  cast,  even 

in  small  and  somewhat  humble  colonies  it  is  noticeable 

that  there  exists  to-day  the  germ  of  future  nations.^ 

Now  of  this  regionalism,  the  most  remarkable  feature 

is  the  growth  of  independence  in  its  true  sense;    for 

though  the  Englishman  of  England  may  well  boast  of 

his  freedom  when  contrasting  it  with  what  is  under- 

*  A  question  which  Englishmen  of  England  frequently  ask 
concerning  the  Australian  people  or  the  Canadian  people  is  —  are 
they  loyal  ?  There  is,  of  course,  no  answer  to  this  question,  since 
the  definition  of  loyalty  very  greatly  varies.  If  by  loyalty  is 
understood  a  blind  and  servile  obedience  to  the  Crown,  then 
enlightened  men  in  these  Commonwealths  are  certainly  not  loyal. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  by  loyalty  is  understood  devotion  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  all  English  conditions  and  customs  —  love  of  home  and  duty 
and  honour  —  then  these  men  are  possibly  more  loyal  than  the  Eng- 
lish of  England. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  309 

stood  by  that  word  in  the  rest  of  Europe,  it  is  well  to 
observe  that  he  has  never  been  completely  independent. 
That  servile  spirit,  which  is  feudal  in  its  origin,  and 
which  should  have  fled  for  ever  in  the  days  of 
Cromwell,  had  not  the  forces  of  reaction  been  fed  by 
overseas  conquests  andj  an  immense  growth  in  com- 
merce and  industry,  has  too  long  exercised  its  pernicious 
power.i  That  servile  spirit,  which  was  first  laid  in  the 
dust  by  Englishmen  in  the  old  North-American 
colonies,  has  died  out  among  the  English-speaking 
peoples,  save  in  England  itself.  Real  independence  has 
arisen,  proving  that  servility  is  un-English,  and  was 
grafted  on  to  England  from  elsewhere. 

Now    the    especial    significance    of   the    proposition 

^  While  the  feudal  tradition  is  actually  the  most  powerful  influ- 
ence in  producing  this  melancholy  state  of  affairs,  a  very  great  con- 
tributory cause  is  undoubtedly  the  system  of  education  still  obtaining 
in  England  among  the  richer  classes  of  the  population  —  a 
system  which  some  day  will  be  classed  as  nothing  short  of 
criminal.  The  public  schools  of  England,  like  the  older  univer- 
sities, in  the  main  tend  to  produce  a  type  of  man  who  abroad  is  heartily 
despised  by  all  save  his  own  kind,  who  is  useless  until  he  has 
learnt  something  practical  in  the  school  of  life,  and  who  is 
therefore  one  of  the  real  menaces  to  the  future  existence  of  the 
British  Empire.  It  is  such  grotesque  phrases  as  that  which  traces 
the  victory  of  Waterloo  to  the  playing-fields  of  Eton  which  still  en- 
sure the  popularity  of  an  antiquated  and  pernicious  system  — 
phrases,  it  may  be  remarked,  which  are  untrue,  since  the  victory  of 
Waterloo  was  due  to  exactly  the  same  causes  as  the  victories  of  Cre9y 
and  Poitiers.  Until  in  England  the  State  becomes  as  solicitous 
of  the  educational  welfare  of  every  boy  and  girl  as  the  State  is  in 
the  United  States,  where  everyone  without  distinction  goes  to  the 
public  schools  (the  Board  Schools  of  England)  there  to  re- 
ceive a  first-class  education  —  until  that  day  comes,  we  shall  see 
the  crippling  and  dangerous  effect  of  the  steady  nourishing  of  a  class- 
sentiment  resting,  not  on  ability,  or  character,  or  achievement,  but 
on  vanity.     That  is  surely  the  last  word  necessary. 


310      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

which  is  here  added  to  the  other  strictures  passed  —  that 
the  spirit  in  England,  and  primarily  of  that  part  of 
England  which  may  be  called  official  England,  is  no 
longer  the  spirit  in  other  parts  of  the  Empire  —  will 
perhaps  only  become  dramatically  apparent  when  some 
matter  of  world-wide  interest,  in  which  there  is  no  mere 
question  of  the  local  European  balance  of  power,  arrests 
universal  attention;  and  then  it  will  be  too  late  to  act, 
as  it  was  too  late  to  act  after  Saratoga  and  Yorktown. 
It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  already  possessing  political 
importance,  that  not  only  in  Canada,  but  in  other  parts 
of  the  British  Dominions — for  instance,  in  New  Zealand 

—  men  are  inclining  more  and  more  to  the  American 
ideal,  and  less  and  less  to  the  British  ideal,  because 
instinctively  they  hate  class-subservience  and  traditional 
observances,  and  the  Roman  project  of  empire.^  The 
feudalism  of  England  is  disliked  and  despised;  it  is 
that  lingering  feudalism  which  is  the  real  bar  to  the 
erection  of  a  permanent  edifice  which  shall  unite  for  all 
time  men  of  the  same  blood  and  speech,  and  yet  retain 
as  real  allies  those  still  held  in  open  subjection  by  the 
mediaeval  right  of  conquest.  This  is  seen  in  all  manner 
of  small  things,  indicative  of  the  tendencies  at  work; 
it  is  being  commented  on  more  and  more  by  word  of 
mouth,  rather  than  publicly;  it  is  in  the  air,  and  what 
is  in  the  air  at  length  comes  to  earth. 

^  Another  very  suggestive  difference  between  the  English  of  Eng- 
land and  the  Enghsh  of  elsewhere,  is  to  be  found  in  the  gen- 
eral aspect  of  their  towns.  In  Australasia,  in  South  Africa,  just  as 
in  Canada,  the  towns  have  an  American  aspect  rather  than  a  British 
one.  Under  the  influence  of  a  different  environment,  it  is  clear 
that    American    becomes    synonymous    with    "simplified    English" 

—  that  is  to  say,  that  the  English  who  have  shaken  themselves  free 
from  conventional  restraints  revert  to  an  earlier  type. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  311 

For  this  vague  antagonism  —  this  clashing  of  ideals 
and  ambitions  —  between  the  component  groups  of  a 
great  race,  is  exactly  the  sort  of  antagonism  which 
existed  in  the  old  American  colonial  days,  and  which 
led  in  the  eighteenth  century  from  the  acrid  and  barren 
controversies  of  the  'sixties  to  the  armed  conflicts  of  the 
'seventies  —  thereby  inviting  the  intervention  of  jealous 
rivals,  and  changing  the  whole  course  of  world-history. 
The  blame  which  has  been  so  consistently  thrown  on 
George  III.  for  this  unfortunate  chapter  of  politics  has 
been  much  exaggerated :  had  not  the  population  of 
England  been  predisposed  to  subserviency,  had  it  not 
frankly  endorsed  the  Roman  imperial  idea  with  its 
slavish  tribute  system  —  in  a  word,  had  men  not  been 
willing  to  accept  autocratic  theories  in  impersonal  issues, 
that  is,  where  their  own  taxation  was  not  concerned, 
the  American  War  of  Independence  would  never  have 
been  fought.  The  vast  eighteenth  century  growth  of 
British  commerce  and  industry,  made  possible  by  the 
partial  displacement  of  Holland  and  France  as  sea 
Powers,  as  well  as  the  great  Asiatic  and  African 
conquests,  by  creating  a  new  plutocracy,  effec- 
tively killed  the  lingering  democratic  spirit  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  thereby  increased  class  sub- 
servience. Commerce  and  capitalism,  purchasing 
places  in  that  citadel  of  feudalism,  the  House  of  Peers, 
soon  had  remarkably  increased  its  moral  strength,  and 
from  that  citadel  was  projected  a  sinister  influence 
which  even  to-day  has  not  yet  been  destroyed.  Though 
George  III.  ostensibly  fought  the  old  oligarchy  which 
had  placed  and  maintained  his  ancestors  on  the  throne, 
he  only  did  so  within  certain  narrow  limits  to  serve  his 
own  political  ends,  since  their  real  interests,  their  ideals. 


312      THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

their  ambitions,  were  his  very  own.  And  so  the  forces 
of  reaction,  ever  gathering  strength,  fed  as  they  were 
during  a  strenuous  generation  by  that  most  powerful 
anti-democratic  engine,  foreign  wars,  have  proved 
again  and  again  too  powerful  for  reformers;  and  thus 
does  it  happen  that  to-day,  in  spite  of  Reform  Acts,  in 
spite  of  the  vast  extension  of  education,  in  spite  of  the 
rise  of  an  intelligent  proletariat,  in  spite  of  many 
democratic  reforms,  half  England  is  still  devoted  to 
principles  and  ideals  which  are  antiquated,  impolitic, 
pernicious  and  illiberal.  And,  worst  of  all,  that  half 
England  is  the  half  which  directs  foreign  policy  and 
refuses  to  a  democracy  the  right  to  interfere.  British 
Imperialism,  as  that  Imperialism  is  still  understood,  is 
therefore  a  false  quantity,  full  of  menace  not  only  to 
the  British  world,  but  to  the  real  interests  of  the  whole 
world ;  full  of  inherent  weakness,  because  it  is  based  on 
false  assumptions;  full  of  deceit,  because  it  juggles  with 
facts  which  are  really  undeniable.  The  panacea  of 
Protection,  latest  proposal  of  a  Power  surely  doomed, 
finds  enthusiastic  support  because,  in  England,  from  its 
very  nature  it  is  oligarchical ;  and,  backed  by  the  great 
parasitic,  speculative  classes,  the  echoes  which  this 
strange  project  has  sent  throughout  the  world  is,  in 
the  last  analysis,  the  greatest  denunciation  that  modern 
Imperialism  has  ever  received.^ 

^  On  the  question  of  the  industrial  development  of  Asia  it  is 
necessary  to  insert  a  few  words  of  warning  to  those  who,  mask- 
ing their  Protectionist  ideas  under  that  ill-sounding  shibboleth. 
Tariff  Reform,  still  divide  up  the  markets  of  the  world  into  three 
divisions;  (i)  those  of  competing  manufacturing  countries  with 
protected  markets,  (2)  those  of  countries  in  the  intermediate  stage, 
like  the  countries  of  South  America,  (3)  those  of  the  so-called 
complemental  regions,  like  the  tropics,  which  are  classed  as  non- 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  313 

The  effect  of  all  this,  of  this  encouragement  of  false 
ideals,  of  this  blurring  and  confounding  of  the  real 
issues,  on  the  questions  which  have  in  this  volume 
been  more  specially  considered  —  the  conflict  of  colour 
throughout  the  world  —  is,  for  England,  very  peculiar 
and  must  never  be  lost  sight  of.  For  whilst  self- 
government  is  still  withheld  from  races  which  have 
claims  on  the  dominant  race,  the  Government  of  England 
is  openly  forced  to  acquiesce  in  the  Dominions  barring 
out  British  subjects  because  they  are  not  white.  Already 
ring-fences  have  been  put  round  Australia  and  Canada 
and  South  Africa  and  New  Zealand;  and  though  this 
discrimination  has  not  yet  provoked  acute  trouble,  and 
has  only  been  a  source  of  serious  concern  in  South 
Africa,  it  is  after  all  merely  a  question  of  time  for  new 
shoals  of  embarrassments  to  be  spawned  from  these  first 

manufacturing  and  non-competitive,  and  where  no  Protection 
prevails.  List,  the  father  of  modem  Protection,  believed  that  the 
basis  of  all  great  industries  in  international  trade  in  the  future 
would  be  the  exchange  between  the  manufacturing  temperate 
regions  and  the  non-manufacturing  and  non-competitive  tropics. 
But  List  had  hardly  heard  of  Japan,  and  showed  withal  in  all  his 
elaborate  theories  a  scant  knowledge  of  human  nature.  It  is  a  fact 
which  is  becoming  more  and  more  evident  that  the  use  of  machinery 
on  a  wholesale  scale  in  Asia  is  merely  a  matter  of  time.  Japan  is 
rapidly  reaching  the  industrial  stage  —  China  and  India  will  soon 
enter  it.  When  these  three  countries  have  fully  developed  their 
resources,  it  will  be  interesting  to  ask  what  has  become  of  List's  prin- 
cipal theory.  The  fact  simply  is  that  in  temperate  climes  what  may 
be  called  the  "higher  manufactures"  will  soon  predominate,  and 
that  these  will  be  exchanged  against  the  raw  products  and  the  "lower 
manufactures"  of  other  climes.  Beyond  this  there  is  no  reason  to  go 
at  present.  Still  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  fallacy  of  Protection 
will  ultimately  be  fully  exposed  by  Asiatic  retaliation,  which  is 
a  thought  which  does  not  appear  to  have  reached  Tariff  Re- 
formers  in   England. 


314       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

ones.  Because  the  white  man  remains  much  ahead  of  all 
coloured  men,  and  —  save  in  the  waters  of  Eastern  Asia  — 
maintains  his  overwhelming  predominance  at  sea,  he  can 
still  act  for  the  time  being  in  this  particular  matter  as 
he  pleases.  But  though  this  policy  of  segregation  which 
his  kind  are  adopting  cannot  yet  be  opposed,  and 
certainly  will  not  be  opposed  in  any  positive  manner  for 
some  years  to  come,  it  is  already  possible,  as  has  been 
shown  elsewhere,  to  begin  to  oppose  negatively  this 
feeling  about  colour;  and  though  nothing  has  occurred 
so  far  to  show  the  enormous  extent  to  which  such  a 
policy  may  ultimately  affect  commerce  and  industry  — 
and  through  them  the  very  life  of  white  races  —  it  is 
already  very  easy  to  write  a  tolerably  accurate  forecast 
of  what  a  revivified  Asia,  partially  allied  to  warlike 
Africa,  not  only  may  attempt  to  do  but  must  inevitably 
try  to  do. 

It  is,  of  course,  true  that  the  white  races  —  especially 
the  English-speaking  races  —  now  own  and  are  firmly 
settled  on  such  enormous  portions  of  the  land-surface 
of  the  world,  that  if  needs  be  they  could  contemplate 
with  resignation  the  ultimate  loss  of  control  over,  and 
the  complete  isolation  of,  the  whole  coloured  world. 
But  such  a  thing  as  really  effective  isolation  is  becoming 
every  day  more  impossible,  as  exchange  in  all  forms 
reaches  ever  more  gigantic  proportions;  and  when 
there  is  no  effective  isolation  there  must  be  continuous 
contact.  Peaceful  contact  necessitates  equitable  arrange- 
ments, or  else  no  contact  can  be  truly  peaceful.  Thus 
it  may  logically  follow  that  every  penalisation  of  one 
people  by  another  people  must  sooner  or  later  bring  a 
corresponding  discrimination,  a  corresponding  disability; 
and  thus  will   be  gradually  woven   a  regular  web  of 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  315 

limitations  and  distinctions  not  only  between  races  and 
nations,  but  between  regions  as  well. 

Now  it  is  highly  unsatisfactory  —  deleting  the  stronger 
word  which  suggests  itself  —  that  such  immensely  grave 
questions,  the  outlmes  of  which  are  already  fairly  clear, 
should  in  the  case  of  England  be  virtually  left  in  the 
hands  of  a  small  bureaucracy,  but  little  more  able  to 
judge  real  values  than  in  those  gloomy  colonial  days  of 
a  hundred  and  forty  years  ago.  The  control  of  British 
policy  all  the  world  over  —  no  matter  what  that  control 
may  once  have  been  —  has  entirely  and  completely  slipped 
from  the  hands  of  those  who  are  its  only  fit  guardians  — 
the  people's  representatives  —  and  is  to-day  monopo- 
lised by  a  departmentalism  which,  because  it  is  depart- 
mentalism, can  only  possess  a  strictly  limited  intelli- 
gence. The  very  name  of  one  great  Department  is 
to-day  as  much  an  anachronism  as  if  it  were  called,  in 
the  language  of  a  century  ago,  the  Board  of  Planta- 
tions, whilst  in  other  directions  the  passage  of  twelve 
decades  has  brought  no  change.  That  in  the  British 
Empire  of  to-day  Secretaries  of  State  should  not  only 
labour  without  proper  supervision  and  control,  but 
should  be  competent  to  enter  into  the  most  far- 
reaching  arrangements  virtually  on  their  own  initiative, 
has  surely  become  a  very  menacing  thing,  and  one  which 
no  wise  man  should  for  a  minute  endorse.  It  is  im- 
possible to  believe  that  had  there  been  in  England  the 
equivalent  of  the  United  States  Senate  Committee  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  such  a  treaty  as  the  second  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance  would  have  been  passed  in  its  present 
ambiguous  and  dangerous  form.  It  is  in  such  directions, 
rather  than  in  those  which  an  acute  but  academic 
observer  such  as  Professor  Pearson  emphasises,  that  the 


316       THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR        ch. 

real  political  and  sociological  dangers  of  the  future  lie. 
That  nothing  but  confusion  can  result  from  the  policy 
of  unscientific  and  hasty  work  is  a  self-evident 
conclusion. 

Yet  there  exists  in  the  study  of  history,  not  only  an 
infallible  guide  to  the  shortcomings  of  foreign  policy, 
but  a  constant  exhortation  to  understand  the  necessity 
of  taking  long  views  instead  of  short  views.  By 
properly  grasping  the  meaning  of  a  phrase  which  so 
constantly  re-occurs  in  Mahan's  masterly  examination 
of  the  influence  of  sea-power  upon  history,  we  come  to 
an  understanding  of  the  present  difficulties  and  see  how 
they  arise.  This  great  American  student  of  strategy 
shows  most  clearly  how  more  than  a  century  ago,  just 
as  to-day,  England  suffered  severely  from  not  seizing 
the  meaning  of  the  French  strategical  formula  which  is 
summed  up  in  that  eloquent  expression  "ulterior 
projects."  ^  The  French,  in  spite  of  all  the  limitations 
which  the  defeats  inspired  and  organised  by  Chatham, 
and  the  crippling  loss  of  Canada  and  especially  of  India, 

^  This  is  by  no  means  an  unimportant  point.  The  English 
character,  just  because  of  its  positive  qualities,  has  most  serious  de- 
fects. It  is  apt  always  to  demand  continuous  and  excessive  concen- 
tration of  the  especial  problem  momentarily  in  hand,  ignoring  "ulterior 
projects."  The  policy  of  always  looking  at  ulterior  projects  demands 
a  synthetic  diplomacy  —  one  which,  fixing  attention  on  the 
final  end  to  be  achieved,  combines  closely  all  forces  and  levers 
of  power  so  as  better  to  achieve  that  end.  In  strategy  of  all 
sorts  —  save  in  the  Napoleonic  struggle,  when  England,  fight- 
ing for  her  very  life,  could  not  but  see  what  her  true  course 
must  be  —  France  has  always  been  superior  to  England;  had 
Frenchmen  to-day  the  immense  power  and  resources  which  Eng- 
lishmen have,  they  would  understand  at  once  that  the  key  to 
European  and  world  supremacy  lies  out  of  Europe  and  not 
in   Europe. 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  317 

had  imposed  upon  them,  by  never  losing  sight  of  the 
strategical  end  which  they  had  in  view,  waged  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  most 
dangerous  and  devasting  warfare  which  shook  England 
to  her  very  foundations,  and  which  might  have  actually 
led  to  her  eclipse  had  it  not  been  for  the  fortunate 
circumstance  of  the  French  Revolution,  By  the  sub- 
ordination of  all  means  to  attain  the  given  end,  by 
never  wasting  strength  to  gain  an  ephemeral  advantage 

—  in  a  word,  by  thinking  perpetually  of  *'  ulterior  pro- 
jects" and  of  nothing  but  those  ulterior  projects  —  the 
French  emerged  from  a  position  of  utter  weakness  to 
a  position  of  great  strength  which  only  a  later  folly 
destroyed. 

The  final  question  which  we  may  now  ask  is,  what 
may  be  the  ulterior  projects  of  British  statesmen 
to-day  ?  Do  they  really  expect  that  the  British  Empire, 
like  the  Roman  Empire,  is  destined  to  drift  quietly  out 
of  existence  because  the  shadow  of  former  power  is 
held  as  the  substance;  or  do  they  aspire  to  something 
a  degree  more  noble  ?  In  other  words,  is  there  any 
definite  goal  ahead  ?  or  is  it  simply  the  policy  of  the 
ancient  Chinese  which  is  being  pursued,  the  policy  of 
building  Great  Walls  to  ward  off  evils,  to  keep  them 
at  arm's  length,  rather  than  go  out  and  meet  and 
defeat  them  ?  Candour  forces  the  confession  that  it 
is  this  procrastinating  policy  which  seems  to  have 
become  the  avowed  foreign  policy  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. 

Yet  such  a  policy  is  wholly  unnecessary.  The 
local  autonomy  which  the  great  Dominions  all  possess 

—  and  which  India  should  soon  win  —  not  only 
postulates    the    rise    of    local    spheres    of    influence, 


318      THE   CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR         ch. 

but  demands  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
develop  such  a  division  of  responsibilities,  with  the 
utmost  possible  speed. ^  It  is  responsibility,  and  the 
menace  which  always  underlies  great  responsibility, 
which  is  the  sole  connecting  link  between  partners  in 
national  affairs,  as  it  is  between  partners  in  private 
affairs.  Canada,  Australia,  South  Africa,  India,  New 
Zealand  —  each  has  a  definite  role  to  play.  Where  the 
waters  impose  a  restraint,  powerful  local  fleets  to  ride  the 
waters  become  necessities  —  not  coast-guard  fleets,  but 
deep-sea  fleets;  and  where  land  meets  land,  there  must 
forces  be  prepared  to  march.  That  this  devolution, 
the  first  principle  in  world-politics,  has  been  long 
perceived  is  a  commonplace;  but  the  admission  has 
only  been  made  in  a  tentative  and  hesitating  manner 
which  leaves  open  the  possibility  of  a  return  to  more 
primitive  methods,  and  seems  to  be  qualified  with  that 


*  "The  conclusion  continually  recurs.  Whatever  may  be  the 
determining  factors  in  strifes  between  neighbouring  continental 
States,  when  a  question  arises  of  control  over  distant  regions,  po- 
litically weak  —  whether  they  be  crumbling  empires,  anarchical 
republics,  colonies,  isolated  military  posts,  or  islands  below  a 
certain  size  —  it  must  ultimately  be  decided  by  naval  power,  by 
the  organised  military  force  afloat,  which  represents  the  com- 
munications that  form  so  prominent  a  feature  in  all  strategy.  The 
magnificent  defence  of  Gibraltar  hinged  upon  this;  upon  this 
depended  the  military  results  of  the  war  in  America;  upon 
this  the  final  fate  of  the  West  India  Islands;  upon  this,  certainly, 
the  possession  of  India.  Upon  this  will  depend  the  control 
of  the  Central  American  Isthmus,  if  that  question  take  a  mili- 
tary colouring;  and  though  modified  by  the  continental  posi- 
tion and  surroundings  of  Turkey,  the  same  sea-power  must  be 
a  weighty  factor  in  shaping  the  outcome  of  the  Eastern  Question 
in  Europe."  —  Mahan:  Influence  of  Sea-Power  upon  History^ 
Chap.  XL 


V  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS  319 

inherent  British  distrust  of  everything  that  has  not  been 
sanctified  by  centuries  of  custom. ^ 

The  continent  of  America  is  a  self-contained  and 
isolated  continent;  the  continent  of  Europe,  save  for 
Russia,  is  a  water-locked  continent.  So  long  as 
England  holds  the  key  to  this  second  continent,  the 
problems  of  the  outer  world  —  the  world  of  colour  — 
will  be  worked  out  largely  regardless  of  what  the 
continent    of    Europe    may    think,^  and    largely  un- 

^  Here  are  some  good  remarks  on  the  question  of  federation : 
"Of  all  systems  of  government  and  political  guarantee,  the 
federative  system  is  certainly  the  most  difficult  to  establish  and 
to  render  prevalent;  a  system  which  consists  in  leaving  in  each 
locality  and  each  particular  society  all  that  portion  of  the  gov- 
ernment vv'hich  can  remain  there,  and  in  taking  from  it  only 
that  portion  which  is  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
general  society,  and  carrying  this  to  the  centre  of  that  society, 
there  to  constitute  of  it  a  central  government.  The  federative 
system,  logically  the  most  simple,  is,  in  fact,  the  most  complex.  In 
order  to  reconcile  the  degree  of  local  independence  and  lib- 
erty which  it  allows  to  remain,  with  the  degree  of  general  order 
and  submission  which  it  demands  and  supposes  in  certain  cases, 
a  very  advanced  degree  of  civilisation  is  evidently  requisite; 
it  is  necessary  that  the  will  of  man,  that  individual  liberty, 
should  concur  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  this 
system  much  more  than  in  that  of  any  other,  for  its  means 
of  coercion  are  far  less  than  those  of  any  other."  —  Guizot:  History 
of  Civilisation  in  Europe,  Fourth  Lecture. 

^  The  question  of  armed  intervention  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  —  to  adjust  the  so-called  balance  of  power  —  has  for 
England  to-day  the  same  dangerous  fascination  it  has  always 
exercised.  Though  it  is  needless  to  deny  that  in  at  least  two 
most  important  crises  in  the  history  of  European  development 
the  armed  intervention  of  England  on  land  contributed  largely 
to  securing  results  favourable  not  only  to  British  policy,  but  to 
that  much  abused  ideal,  the  general  balance  of  power,  no  one 
has  yet  been  found  to  say  what  would  have  happened  had 
neither    Marlborough    nor    Wellington    fought    so    long    and    so 


320       THE  CONFLICT  OF  COLOUR    ch.  v 

influenced  by  the  continent  of  America,  save  where  a 
powerful  sentiment  may  demand  intervention.  Before 
this  position  is  materially  changed  many  years  must 
pass.  Re-stated,  then,  the  problem  of  colour  becomes 
finally  an  almost  British  problem  —  a  problem  the  solu- 
tion of  which  really  contains  the  future  solution  of  the 
question  of  the  British  Empire.  Let  every  English 
democracy  understand  this;  let  them  press  forward 
the  solution  as  their  common-sense  may  ordain.  It  is 
at  last  quite  certain  that  the  question  of  colour  is  the 
rock  on  which  the  Empire  must  split,  or  on  which  may 
be  builded  the  greatest  edifice  the  world  has  ever 
seen. 

well    in    the    interests    of    their    country.  If    we    subtract    their 

victories,    it    can    only    be    said    that    the  uncomfortable    feeling 

remains  that  some  other  factor  might  have  done  the  work  equally 
well. 


APPENDIX  I 


THE   CHIEF   COLONIAL   POWERS   AND   THEIR 
POSSESSIONS 


1.  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

2.  FRANCE. 

3.  GERMANY. 


4.  UNITED   STATES. 

5.  HOLLAND. 

6.  PORTUGAL. 


322 


APPENDIX  I 


GREAT   BRITAIN   IN   THE   AMERICAS. 

[N.B.  —  These  tables  of  British  possessions  are  abstracted  from  Lucas's 
Historical  Geography  of  Ike  British  Colonies.] 


Name  of  Dependency. 


How  ACQCIREO. 


Date. 

Area  in 
Sq.  Miles. 

1583-1623 

42,734 
120,000 

1759 

3,745,574 

1609-12 

19 

1666 

4,466 

1655 
1678 

4,296 

87 
166 

1632 
1661-2 

1623 
1628 
1650 
1632 
1761 

108 
62 

65i 
50 
35 
32 
291 

1672 

S8 

1624-S 

166 

1803 
1762 
1762 
1797 
1803 

233 
147 
133 
1,754 
114 

1803 
1798 

100,000 

7,562 

1832-3 

6,500 

1,000 

PoPtJLATION 

AT  Last 
Census 

(1901). 


1.  British  N.  America. 

1.  Newfoundland  and 

Labrador 

2.  Dominion  of  Can- 

ada 

2.  The  Bermudas 


Settled . 


The  West  Indies. 
I.  The  Bahamas. 


Jamaica  and 
The  Caymans .  . 
Turks  Islands.  . 
Leeward  Islands. 

Antigua .... 

Barbuda.  , .  . 

Redonda. . . 

St.  Kitts 

Nevis 

Anguilla.  .  .  . 

Montserrat. 

Dominica.  .  . 


e.    Virgin  Islands 

Barbados 

Windward  Islands. 

a.  St.  Lucia 

b.  St.  Vincent .... 

c.  Grenada 

Trinidad 

Tobago 


7.  British  Guiana  .  . 

8.  British  Honduras 


The  Falkland  Is- 
lands and  South 
Georgia 


Conquered 
(Quebec) 

Settled 


Settled       (New 

Providence) 
Conquered 


Settled . 


Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
Settled 
(1761) 

quered 
Conquered 

(Tortola) 
Settled 


and 


Conquered 

Occupied 

Conquered 

Conquered  .  .  .  . 

Settled  and 
(1803)  con- 
quered 

Conquered .... 

Settled  and 
(1798)      con- 
quered  , 


Occupied 
(finally) 


217,037 

3,947 

5,371,315 


17,535 

53,735 

755,730* 

5,287 

34,178 

775 

18 

29,782 

12,774 

3.890 

12,215 

28,894 

4,908 

195,588 1 

49,883 
47,548^ 
63,438 
255,148 
18,751 

295,896 1 
37,479 


2,043 


Total  area  of  the  American  dependencies  of  Great  Britain,   4,035,653  sq. 
miles. 

Total  population  of  American  dependencies  of  Great  Britain,  7,517,794. 

'  No  census  taken.     Estimate  only. 


APPENDIX  I 


323 


GREAT   BRITAIN    IN   AFRICA. 


Naux  of  Dependency. 

How   ACQUTRED. 

Date. 

Area  tn 
Sq.  Mn,E.s. 

Population 
(i8gi  Census 

FOR  THE 

Colonies)  . 

1 .  Gambia 

2.  Sierra  Leone 

3.  Gold  Coast 

4.  Lagos 

5.  Niger    Protector- 
ates (Northern  and 
Southern  Nigeria) 

Settlement  and 

Cession 
Cession 

1618 
1816 
1787 
1618 
1861 
1884-S 

3,550^ 
30,000 1 
40,000* 

1,100' 
500,000' 

14,266^ 

74.835^ 

1,500,000* 

85,607* 

25,000,000' 

< 

Settlement 

Cession 

^ 

^ 

Declaration  of  Pro- 
tection 

Total  West  Africa.  .  . 

574,650 

26,647,708 

^  Including  the  Protectorate. 

*  Population  of  the  Colony  only. 

'  Population  of  the  enumerated  districts  of  the  Colony  only. 

*  Estimated  area  and  population  of  the  Colony  and  older  Protectorate  only. 
'  Incomplete  estimate  of  the  area  and  population  of  the  Colony  only. 

'  The  very  roughest  estimate  only. 


3U 


APPENDIX  I 


GREAT   BRITAIN   IN   AFRICA  —  Continued. 


Population 

Namk  or  Dependency. 

How  AcQuntEO. 

Date. 

Area  in 
Sq.  Miles. 

(1891  Cen- 
sus for  the 
Colonies). 

I.  Cape  Colony. . . 

Conquest   and 

1806 

276,551 

1,586,125! 

1 

settlement 

2.  Basutoland .... 

Cession 

fi868 
11884 

10,293 

218,902 

•g 

3.  Natal,  including 

Conquest      and 

from  1840 

35461 

782,000 

Zululand  and 

settlement 

a 

Amatongaland 

U 

4.  Bechuanaland 

Treaties       and 

from  1885 

412,000* 

? 

1 

Protectorate 

proclamation 

and  territories 

M 

south    of  the 

3 

o 

Zambesi 

w 

5.  British    Central 
Africa 

Treaties       and 
proclamation 

from  1888 

350,000* 

? 

Total  South  and  Cen- 
tral Africa 

1,084,305 

? 

I.  Zanzibar      and 

Declaration    of 

1890] 

5 

'C 

Pemba 

protection 

< 

2.  British        East 
Africa 

Treaties        and 
proclamations 

1886-90 

1,200,000* 

"ci 

3.  Somali    Protec- 

Treaties       and 

1887 

M 

torate 

proclamations 

Total  East  Afrira 

1,200,000 
34 

I.  Ascension 

Occupation 

1815 

160  « 

2.  St.  Helena 

Occupation  .... 

1651 

47 

3,877* 

3.  Tristan  da 

Occupation 

1816 

20 

(1896)  64 

•s 

Cunha 

4.  Mauritius 

Conquest 

1810 

708 

371,655 

'in 

5.  Seychelles 

Conquest 

1794 

100' 

16,592 

6.  Minor      dei>en- 

Conquest 

1810 

100 » 

3,224 

dencies    of 

Mauritius 

Total  of  Islands. .. 

1,009 

^0S.S72 

Grand      total     of 

2,8^0,064 

(Incom- 

Africa 

plete) 

*  Exclusive  of  the  native  population  in  the  Gordonia  district. 

*  The  very  roughest  estimate  only. 

•Estimate  only.  *  Civil  population  only. 


APPENDIX  I 


325 


GREAT   BRITAIN   IN   AFRICA  —  C(>n/t«M«rf. 


Nahe  of  Dependency. 

How  Acquired. 

Date. 

A&ea  in 
Sq.  Miles. 

Population 
AT  Last 
Census 
(igoi). 

Somaliland 

Protectorate  

Taken 

1884 
1810 
1810 
1810 

1794 

68,000 1 
708 
46  1 
64  1 

148X 

300,000^ 
373,336 
3,162 
1,697 

19,237 

Mauritius 

Rodrigues 

Taken  

Smaller  dependencies 
of  Mauritius 
Seychelles 

Taken  

Taken 

1  Estimates  only. 


GREAT   BRITAIN   IN   THE   MEDITERRANEAN. 


Name  of  Dependency. 


Gibraltar 
Malta .  .  . 
Cyprus. . 


How  ACQUIKED. 


Taken  

Taken  

Occupied    under 
Treaty 


Date. 


1704 
1800 
1878 


Area  in 
Sq.  Miles. 


117 
3,584 


Population 

at  Last 

Census 

(1901). 


27,460 
207,890 
237,152 


326 


APPENDIX  I 


GREAT  BRITAIN  IN  ASIA. 


Nahe  of  Dependency. 


How  AcQcntED. 


Date. 


Area  in 
Sq.  Miles. 


Population 

AT  Last 

Census 

(tgoi). 


Aden 

Perim 

Kuria  Muria  Islands . 

Socotra 

Ceylon 

Maldive  Islands. . . . 


Straits  Settlements: 

Singapore 

Penang 

Province  Wellesley.  .  . 

Malacca 

Bindings 

Cocos-Keeling  Islands 
Christmas  Islands .  .  . . 


Federated  Malay  States: 

Perak 

Selangor 

Negri  Sembilan 

,  Pahang 

Johore 

Labuan 

Brunei 

North  Borneo 

Sarawak 

Hongkong 

Weihaiwei 


Taken  

Occupied  . . . 

Ceded  

Protectorate 

Taken  

Taken  

Ceded  

Ceded  

Ceded  

Ceded  

Ceded 

Occupied  . . . 
Occupied  . . . 


Protectorate 
Protectorate 
Protectorate 
Protectorate 
Protectorate 

Ceded 

Protectorate 
Protectorate 
Protectorate 

Ceded  

Leased  


1839 
1857 
1854 
1886 
1796 
1796 


1819I 

1786 

1800 

1824 

1874* 

I8S7 


1874 
1874 
1874-86' 
1888 
i88s 
1846 
1888 
1888 
1888 
1841 


75 
5 

1,400* 
25.481 
? 


223 
107 
288 

659 
265 

? 

43 


6,500 
3,200 
2,600 
14,000 
9,000* 

30 

4,000* 

31,000* 

42,000* 

329: 

28s 


43.974 

12,000* 

3,578,333 
30,000* 


228,555 

128,830 

115.264 

95,487 

4.113 

645 

704 


329,665 

168,789 

96,028 

84,113 

200,000* 

8,411 

30,000* 
1 20,000* 
500,000* 
399.366 
150,000* 


'  Date  of  occupation.    The  island  was  not  formally  ceded  until  1824. 

*  Part  of  the  Bindings  district  was  ceded  in  1826,  but  not  occupied. 

*  The  various  states  of  the  confederation  known  as  the  Negri  Sembilan 
did  not  all  come  under  British  control  at  the  same  time. 

*  Estimates  only. 


APPENDIX  I 


327 


FRENCH   COLONIAL   EMPIRE. 
N.B.  —  The  estimates  of  population  are  already  out  of  date. 


Year  of 
Acquisition. 


Area  in 
Sq.  Miles. 


Population. 


In  Asia. 

India 

Annam 

Cambodia .  .  . , 
Cochin-China . 

Tonking 

Laos 


Total  Asia . 


In  Africa. 

Algeria , 

Sahara 

Timis 

Senegal 

Upper  Senegal  and  Niger . 

Guinea 

Ivory  Coast , 

Dahomey 

Mauritania 

Congo 

Reunion , 

Madagascar , 

Mayotte 

Somali  Coast 


Total  Africa . 


In  America. 

St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon . 

Guadeloupe 

Martinique 

Guiana 


Total  America . 

In  Oceania. 

New  Caledonia.  , 
Tahiti,  &c 


Total  Oceania. 
Grand  total .  . , 


1679 
1884 
1862 
i86i 
1884 
1893 


1830-1902 

1881 
1637-1880 

1893 

1843 

1843 

1893 

1893 

1884 

1649 
I 64 2- I 896 

1843 
1864 


163s 
1634 
163s 
1626 


1854-1887 
1841-1881 


196 
309,980 


310,176 


343,500 1 
1,544,000 
45,779 


1,585,8102 


669,280 
970 

226,015 

840 

5,790 


4,421,984 


96 

688 

378 

34,060 


35,222 


7,200 

1,544 


8,744 


4,776,126 


277,000 
16,317,000 


16,594,000 


5,231,850 
800,000 

1,500,000 
915,000 

4,415,000 

1,498,000 
890,000 
749,000 
400,000 

5,000,000 
201,000 

2,701,000 

96,000 

180,000 


24,576,850 


6,000 

182,000 

182,000 

27,000 


397,000 


5  5, 800 
30,000 


85,800 


41,653,650 


Including  the  Algerian  Sahara. 


2  Including  military  territories. 


328 


APPENDIX  I 


GERMAN   COLONIES   AND   DEPENDENCIES. 

[From  The  Statesman's  Year-Book.] 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  various  colonies  and  regions  under  the  protection 
or  influence  of  Germany,  the  estimates  given  being  necessarily  vague. 


In  Africa. 

Togoland 

Kamerun 

German       South-west 

Africa 
German  East  Africa  . . 

Total  Africa  possessions . . 

In  Asia. 

Kiauchau  Bay 

In  the  Pacific. 

German  New  Guinea : 
Kaiser  Wilhelm's  Land 
Bismarck  Archipelago 

Caroline  Islands 

Palau  or  Pelew  Islands 

Marianne  Islands 

Solomon  Islands 

Marshall  Islands,  &c.  . 
Samoan  Islands : 

Savaii 

Upolu 

Total  Pacific  possessions  . 

Total     foreign     depend- 
encies 


Date  of 
AcQDisrnoN. 


1884 

1884 

1884-90 

1885-90 

1884-90 

1897 


1885-86 
188s 
1899 
1899 
1899 
1886 
1886 

1899 
1899 

1884-99 

1884-99 


Method  of 

GoVEKNIfENT. 


Imp.  Governor 
Imp.  Governor 
Imp.  Governor 

Imp.  Governor 


Imp.  Governor 


Imp. 
Governor 


1        Imp.        I 
J     Governor    1 


Estimated 

Area 
Sq.  Miles. 


33,700 
191,130 
322,450 

384,180 


931,460 


{       ^  200 


70,000 
20,000 

560 

250 

4,200 

ISO 

660 
340 


96,160 


1,027,820 


EsmiATEO 

Population. 


1,000,000 

3,000,000 

120,000 

10,000,000 


14,120,000 


33,000 


300,000 
56,000 

37,000 


393,000 


14,546,000 


^  Exclusive  of  the  Bay  with  an  area  of  about  200  square  miles,  and  the 
neutral  zone  with  an  area  of  about  2,500  square  miles  and  population  of 
1,200,000. 


APPENDIX  I 


329 


OUTLYING  TERRITORIES   AND   COLONIES  OF   THE 
UNITED    STATES. 


ASEA 

Squake  Miles. 

PoPULAnON. 

I.  Alaska 

590,800 

6,499 

3.435 

127,853 

200 

100 

80,000 

2.  Hawaii 

190,000 
1,100,000 

3.   Porto  Rico 

4.  Philippine  Islands 

8,000,000 

5.   Guam 

11,000 

6.   Samoan  Islands 

6,000 

Total  area 

728,887 

9,387,000 

COLONIAL   POSSESSIONS   OF  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


Total 
Population. 


1.  Dutch  East  Indies : 

(Java,  Madura,  Sumatra,  Celebes, 
Dutch  Borneo,  Molucca  Islands,  Timor 
Archipelago,  New  Guinea,  and  minor 
groups) 

2.  Dutch  West  Indies :  — 

(a)  Surinam 

(b)  Curacao 


38,000,000 

80,000 
53,000 


330 


APPENDIX  I 


PORTUGUESE   DEPENDENCIES. 

[From  The  Statesman's  Year-Book.] 

The  colonial  possessions  of  Portugal,  situated  in  Africa  and  Asia,  are  as 
follows :  — 


CoijOniai.  Possessions. 

Area,  Engush 
Square  Miles. 

Population. 

Possessions  in  Africa. 

Cape  Verde  Islands  (1900) 

1,480 

13,940 

360 

484,800 
293,400 

147,424 

Guinea 

820,000 

Prince's    and    St.    Thomas'    Islands 

(1902) 
Angola 

42,103 

4,119,000 
3,120,000 

East  Africa 

Total  Africa 

793,980 

1,469 

169 

7,330 

4 

8,248,527 

475,513 
56,28s 

300,000 
63,991 

Possessions  in  Asia. 

In  India,  Goa  (1900) 

Damao  Diu  (1900) 

Indian  Archipelago  (Timor,  &c.) 

China :  Macao,  &c.  (1900) 

Totfl^l  Asia 

8,972 

895,789 

Total  Colonies 

802,952 

9,144,316 

APPENDIX    II 


DENSITY   OF   POPULATIONS 

(Compiled  from  the  latest  estimates  available;  mainly  from  the  statistical 
decennial,  1900-1901.) 

Examples  from  European  Countries. 

1.  Great  Britain  — 

England 558  per  square  mile. 

Scotland 150  „ 

Ireland 136.7  „ 

2.  Germany 290  „ 

3.  France 189.5  » 

4.  Belgium 589  „ 

5.  Holland 454  „ 

6.  Italy 306  „ 

7.  Spain 96.7  „ 

Q    I  Austria 226  „ 

•  [Hungary 154  „ 

9.     Russia  — 

European  Russia 59.7  „ 

Poland 227.2  „ 

Siberia 1.4  „ 

10.     Bulgaria 105  „ 

Examples  in  American  Continent. 

1.  United  States  (excluding  Alaska) 25.6  per  square  mile. 

2.  Canada 1.48  „ 

3.  Mexico 17.7  „ 

4.  Brazil 5.4  „ 

5.  Argentine 5.4  „ 

Examples  in  Asiatic  Continent. 

1.  India  (British) 211  per  square  mile. 

All  India 167  „ 

2.  China 266  „ 

3-     Japan 320  „ 

4.     Persia 15  „ 

5-     Siam 35  „ 

6.  Afghanistan 20  „ 

331 


332  APPENDIX  H 


Examples  in  Australasia,  Oceania,  and  East  Indies. 

1.  Australia 1.5  per  square  mile. 

2.  New  Zealand 10  „ 

3.  Java 600  „ 

4.  Sumatra 25  „ 

5.  Borneo 6  „ 

Examples  in  Africa. 

1.  Algeria 28  „ 

2.  Cape  Colony 8.7  „ 

3.  Transvaal 10  „ 

4.  Egypt  (settled  land  surface) 950  „ 

5.  Congo  Free  State 15  „ 

The  great  empty  spaces  of  the  world  susceptible  of 
immense  development  by  population-increase  are :  — 

1.  Siberia. 

2.  Brazil  and  Argentine. 

3.  Canada. 

4.  Australia. 

5.  Mongolia  and  Manchuria. 

These    areas    could    support   twice    or   even   thrice 
the  entire  present   population   of  the  world. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abyssinia,  250. 
Aden,  218. 


British    Empire,    75 ;    disastrous 
effect  on  Europe,  76. 


Africa,    purely    a    coloured    man's    Anglo-Japanese   Alliance,   provisions 


continent,  96 ;  future  of,  236 ; 
densest  masses  of  population  in 
equatorial  zone,  236 ;  connection 
with  India,  239 ;    connection  with 


of  the  two  treaties,  113,  114,  115  ; 

a   temporising   measure   for   both 

parties,     144 ;      ambiguous     and 

dangerous,  315. 
America,  239,  240 ;    imited  by    a   Antoninus,  25. 
colour       bond,       247 ;       Moslem   Arab,   the,  France's  real  enemy  in 
influence    in,    248 ;    encircled    by       Northern    Africa,    251  ;     political 
British     possessions,     252,     253 ;       future  of,  261. 
possibility  of  a  policy  of  "scuttle,"    Armaments,  not  costly  if  considered 
253  ;  area  controlled  by  European       in  relation  to  what  they  protect, 

281. 
Asia,      regions     where     permanent 

frontier-lines  not  yet  established, 


Powers,  291. 

,  Central,  problem  of,  243. 

,    North-Western,    position    in, 

260. 

,     South,     black     problem     in, 

242  ;  population,  white  and  black, 
243 ;  ascendency  of  whites  safe- 
guarded in  Union,  243 ;  "All 
White"  policy,  313. 

,  West  Coast,  slavery  in,  237. 

Alison,  History  of  Europe,  4,  30, 
32,  289. 

"All  White"  policy  in  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  Canada,  South 
Africa,  313. 

Alsace-Lorraine,  91. 

America,  continent  of,  effect  of 
discovery  on  Europe,  58,  59 ; 
future  definitely  settled,  94 ;  con- 
nection with  Africa,  239,  240. 

,  Latin,  assimilation  of  con- 
querors, 23. 

,   North,  first  real  colonization 

by  white  men  out  of  Europe,  63. 

American  Revolution,  not  merely 
an     internal     problem     for     the 

335 


93  ;  population  compared  with 
Europe,  102 ;  still  largely  inde- 
pendent of  the  white  man,  104; 
population  of  non-subjected 
peoples,  105 ;  climate  the  great 
obstacle,  132 ;  Asiatic  not  de- 
lighted with  justice  per  se,  193 ; 
race  hatred  in,  194 ;  need  for  an 
Asiatic  Empire,  224;  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  the  Slav  the  only  two 
races  interested  in,  225 ;  most 
important  development  the  rise 
of  the  first  real  Asiatic  sea 
Power,  268 ;  r61e  played  towards 
Europe,  276,  277,  278 ;  Europe's 
schoolmaster  in  thought,  276 ; 
can  readjust  the  European 
balance,  276 ;  struggle  with 
Europe  the  explanation  of  the 
white  man's  present  position  in 
the  world,  279 ;  need  of  a 
balance  of  power  independent  of 
Europe,  293. 


336 


INDEX 


"Asia  for  the  Asiatics,"  preached 
by  Japan  throughout  the  Far 
East,  145,  146. 

Attila,  277. 

Australia,  future  quite  decided,  95 ; 
problem  of  the  Northern  Terri- 
tory, 96 ;  "All  White"  policy,  313. 

Austria,  tacit  agreement  with 
Japan  against  Russia,  178. 

Barbarianism,  Northern,  the  real 
strength  and  groundwork  of 
European  society,  23,  24. 

Beaconsfield,  Lord,  295. 

Bengal,  partition  of,  193. 

Berlin  Conference  and  Treaty 
(1878),  238,  292. 

Bismarck,  238,  292. 

"Black  Belt,"  95,  108. 

Black  races,  double  their  nimibers 
in  forty  years,  1 2  ;  utterly  separa- 
ted from  the  rest  of  the  world's 
inhabitants,  228 ;  attitude  of 
Chinese  towards,  231 ;  have  given 
nothing  to  the  world,  232 ; 
number  in  the  world  at  present 
and  at  the  end  of  the  present 
century,  235 ;  in  Africa,  236 ; 
can  only  progress  up  to  a  certain 
point,  239 ;  number  in  the 
Southern  States  of  America,  240 ; 
a  type  of  arrested  development, 
244 ;  have  more  to  hope  from 
Islamism  than  from  Christianity, 
246 ;  vmited  in  Africa  by  a 
colour  bond,  247 ;  will  be 
rendered  less  dangerous  by 
Christianity,  257. 

Board  of  Plantations,  315. 

Boxer  Rebellion,  163,  165. 

Brazil,  cross-breeding  in,  231 ; 
"Exclusion  Laws"  in,  240; 
colour  future  of,  240. 

British  Empire,  not  analogous  to 
Roman  Empire,  305 ;  English 
view  of,  306. 

Brown  races,  double  their  niunbers 
in  sixty  years,  12;  attitude  of 
Chinese  towards,  231. 

Buckle,  History  of  Civilisation,  12, 
133.  189. 


Canada,  French  population  at 
time  of  surrender  to  England,  66 ; 
"All  White"  policy,  313. 

Charlemagne,  empire  of,  32. 

China,  assimilation  of  conquerors, 
22;  political  tolerance  in,  129; 
relations  with  Japan,  142  ;  reluct- 
ance to  side  with  Japan,  142 ; 
population  compared  with  Japan, 
Russia  and  United  States,  151 ; 
internal  situation  favourable  to 
Japanese  policy,  157 ;  theocratic 
principle  of  government,  160  ;  the 
Manchu  conquest,  162  ;  influence 
of  foreign  factor,  163 ;  coming  of 
constitutional  or  parliamentary 
government,  164;  Shanghai 
Treaties,  165 ;  causes  of  com- 
plaint against  the  Manchus,  165, 
166,  167 ;  regionalism  in,  167; 
the  Manchu  rigime,  168 ;  estab- 
lishment of  Provincial  Assemblies, 
169 ;  duty  of  white  Powers 
towards,  171  ;  chief  need  a  real 
master,  171  ;  should  be  com- 
pletely independent  and  stronger 
than  Japan,  181 ;  crippled  by  Boxer 
Indemnities  and  low  Customs 
Tariff,  182  ;  Islamism  in,  249. 

Chipangu,  272. 

Christianity,  a  product  of  temper- 
ate climes,  118;  a  weakening 
force  in  Asia,  118;  as  a  factor  in 
the  evolution  of  the  white  races, 
281. 

Civilisation,  masses  of  men  the 
real  frontiers  of,  90. 

Clausewitz,  209. 

Climate,  influence  of,  17 ;  effect  not 
understood  in  Western  world, 
132;  Asia's  great  obstacle,  132; 
effect  on  Eastern  character,  135. 

Colbert,  51. 

"Colonial"  idea,  among  English- 
men, 267. 

Colour,  the  foimdation  of  a  racial 
antipathy,  no;  its  conflict  will 
be  worked  out  largely  regardless 
of  what  Eurof>e  may  think,  319 ; 
almost  a  purely  British  problem, 
320. 


INDEX 


337 


Coloured  belt,  its  tendency  to  ex- 
pand, io8. 

Congo  Free  State,  population  of, 
I",  237. 

Creasy,  Decisive  Battles  of  the 
World,  20. 

Cromer,  Lord,  258. 

Crusades,  the,  38,  282. 

Darius,  22. 

Diaz,  Bartholomew,  42. 

Drago  doctrine,  208. 

Egypt,  has  no  real  government  but  a 
system  of  provisional  administra- 
tion, 190 ;  situation  more  complex 
than  in  India,  215 ;  work  of 
British  officials  in,  216;  British 
lack  of  sympathy  in,  217; 
nature  of  the  value  of,  218;  an 
Indian  question,  219. 

Eliot,  Dr.  C.  W.,  on  the  new  religion, 
128. 

England,  in  a  different  position 
from  Continental  nations,  54 ; 
beginning  of  the  rise  of,  54 ; 
displaces  France  as  dominant 
Power  in  Europe,  61 ;  a  minor 
Power  till  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  66 ;  displaces 
France  in  America,  67 ;  weak  in 
men  until  the  nineteenth  century; 
77 ;  her  Asiatic  destiny  revealed 
by  American  Revolution,  83  ;  the 
natural  ally  of  Russia  in  Asia, 
222;  her  occupation  of  Egypt  the 
great  barrier  to  African  uprisings, 
250 ;  her  foreign  pohcy  described, 
274;  still  pervaded  by  a  servile 
spirit,  309 ;  her  foreign  policy 
directed  by  antiquated  and 
impolitic  principles,  312,  and  in 
the  hands  of  a  small  bureaucracy, 

315- 

English  race,  has  mviltiplied  25-fold 
in  three  centuries,  5 ;  its  capacity 
for  planting  colonies,  63 ; 
strategically  stupid,  209. 

Europe,  its  history  begins  with 
the  last  stages  of  the  Roman 
Empire,    23,   and   becomes   world 


history  only  from  the  opening  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  55 ; 
power  transferred  from  land  to 
sea,  56 ;  a  general  rectification  of 
frontiers  still  to  come,  90;  its 
population  compared  with  Asia, 
102 ;  only  certain  nations 
interested  in  Asiatic  problems, 
103 ;  its  debt  to  Asia,  233 ;  its 
four  invasions  by  Asiatic  hordes, 
277,  278 ;  its  struggle  with  Asia 
the  explanation  of  the  white 
man's  present  position  in  the 
world,  279. 

Feudalism,  institution  of,  34. 

Force,  doctrine  of,  in  Europe,  289. 

France,  stationary  fMjpulation, 
4 ;  population  compared  with 
Germany,  7  ;  methods  pursued  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  absolute 
power  in,  46,  47 ;  condition 
previous  to  Louis  XIII.,  48 ; 
position  during  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.,  51 ;  ceases  to  be  the  domi- 
nant Power  in  Europe,  52,  53,  54 ; 
displaced  by  England  in 
America,  67;  retains  intellectual 
leadership  of  Europe  even  after 
the  Revolution,  77 ;  of  minor 
importance  in  Eastern  Asia,  177; 
her  colonies  in  Africa  and  Asia 
a  menace  to  European  supremacy 
throughout  the  world,  273. 

Frederick  the  Great,  50. 

French  Congo,  population  of,  237. 

George  III.,  pohcy  of,  71,  311. 

Germany,  population  compared 
with  France,  7 ;  of  minor  im- 
portance in  Eastern  Asia,  177; 
does  not  occupy  the  position 
which  racially  she  is  entitled  to 
occupy,  274. 

Gibbon,  estimate  of  the  population 
of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the 
time  of  Claudius,  10;    on  Egypt, 

251- 
Gibraltar,  218. 
Gokhale,  Mr.  G.  K.,  and  reform  in 

India,  199,  204. 


338 


INDEX 


1 


Gordon,     General,     on     reform     in 

India,  226. 
Guizot,    History    of   Civilisation    in 

France,  i,  24,  34. 
,     History     of    Civilisation     in 

Europe,  30. 
Gunpowder,  effect  of   invention   of, 

36,  37- 

Hamilton,     General     Sir     Ian,    A 

Staf  Officer's  Scrap-Book,   210. 
Hayti,  244. 

India,  has  no  real  government  but 
a  system  of  provincial  administra- 
tion, 190;  the  key  to  all  Nearer 
Asia,  192;  the  bureaucracy  the 
sole  enemy  of  the  natives,  198; 
the  reforms  demanded,  199 ; 
failure  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment to  improve  the  lot  of  the 
people,  201 ;  judicial  and  execu- 
tive functions  not  separated,  201 ; 
need  of  a  bona  fide  decentralised 
system  of  representative  govern- 
ment, 204;  need  for  a  different 
type  of  British  official,  206;  as 
a  World  Power,  210;  should  be 
a  naval  Power  in  the  Persian 
Gulf,  the  Red  Sea,  and  even  the 
Mediterranean,  212;  real  future 
lies  in  racial  expansion,  214; 
should  be  linked  by  railway  to 
the  Mediterranean,  224;  its 
whole  history  a  story  of  colour 
prejudice,  229;  connection  with 
Africa,  239. 

Instinctive  Morality,  increasing 
belief  in  the  sufficiency  of,  15. 

Islamism,  possibility  of  an  alliance 
with  a  white  Power,  117;  spread 
amongst  the  black  races  of 
Africa,  246;  in  Java,  the  PhiUp- 
pines,  and  China,  249. 

Japan,  not  so  efficient  as  Europe 
or  America,  135;  racially  op- 
posed to  Europe,  136 ;  debarred 
from  sending  her  surplus  pop- 
ulation to  the  opposite  shores  of 
the  Pacific,   137;    crippled  by  an 


immense  debt,  137;  policy  to 
establish  a  community  of  in- 
terests between  all  the  yellow 
races,  138;  attitude  towards 
South  Manchuria,  139;  land  tax, 
141 ;  desires  the  hegemony  of 
the  East,  141,  142;  relations  with 
China,  142 ;  miUtarism,  143 ; 
territories  gained  during  the  last 
14  years,  146;  necessity  of  in- 
creasing her  population,  146; 
present  position  in  the  East,  147; 
fears  Russia  most  of  all  her  rivals, 
then  the  United  States,  then 
China,  148;  has  placed  herself 
in  a  wrong  class,  150;  population 
compared  with  China,  Russia, 
and  United  States,  151 ;  con- 
sideration of  birth-rate,  153; 
growth  of  population,  154,  155; 
her  outer  problem,  158;  steps  of 
her  programme  on  the  continent 
of  Asia,  158;  troops  familiarised 
with  South  Manchuria,  162 ;  no 
limits  set  to  her  sea  strength  by 
geography,  270. 

Java,    Islamism    in,    249. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  on  the  pop- 
ulation of  Russia,  8. 

Johnston,  Sir  H.  H.,  estimate  of 
population  of  Congo  Free  State, 


Kingship,  effect  on  the  divisions  of 

Europe,  35. 
Knowledge,  modern  growth  of  real, 

3,    12;    must    spread    slowly    in 

Asia,  17. 
Korea,    forced   to   acknowledge   the 

sovereignity  of  Japan,  142. 

"Law  of  Waste,"  in  operation  in 

Europe     after     the     fall     of    the 

Roman  Empire,  10. 
Lepanto,  269. 
Liberia,  241. 
Liberty,    as    understood    in  Athens 

and  Sparta,  20,  21. 
Lodge,    Student's    Modern    Europe, 

38,  50,  58. 
Louis  XIV.,  51. 


INDEX 


339 


L'Ouverture,  Toussaint,  244. 
Louvois,  51. 

Lucas,  Historical  Geography  of  the 
British  Colonies,  252,  284. 

Macaulay,  40,  66. 

Madagascar,  259. 

Mahan,    Influence    of    Sea    Power 

upon  History,  43,  45,  47,  52,  53, 

55,  56,  61,  65,  67,  69,  70,  75,  134, 

172,  288,  316,318. 
Malta,  218. 
Marathon,  20,  21. 
Martinet,  51. 
Middle    and    Near    East,    problem 

includes        India,        Afghanistan, 

Persia,    Arabistan,    Asia     Minor, 

Egypt,  184 ;   English  ideal  in,  187. 
Military  dominion,  always  of  scant 

political  importance  in  early  times, 

22. 
Mill,  J.   S.,  on  the  government  of 

one  people  by  another,  188,   189. 
Miscegenation,      in      the      United 

States,  229. 
Monroe  doctrine,  208. 
Morley,    Lord,    reform    scheme    for 

India,  202. 
Morocco,  250. 

Napoleon,  his  empire  merely  a 
tour  de  force,  57;  dreams  of  an 
Eastern  Empire,  220. 

Nationalist  movement,  in  Asia,  131. 

Navarino,  269. 

New  Zealand,   "All  White"  policy, 

3^3- 
Nigeria,  population  of,  237. 
,    Southern,    Moslem    influence 

in,  248. 

Ocean  navigation,  until  the  rise 
of  Japan  the  prerogative  of  the 
white  man,  271. 

Omdurman,  249. 

Over-population,  7. 

Pacific  Ocean,  apparently  des- 
tined to  be  the  world's  battle- 
ground, 126;  too  large  to  be 
dominated    by    any    combination 


of  Powers  acting  from  the  coasts 
of  America,  172;  the  "back 
door"  to  the  United  States,  175. 

Panama  Canal,  effect  of  completion 
of,  177. 

Paris,  Treaty  of,  67. 

Pearson,  C.  H.,  National  Life  and 
Character,  9,  25,  116,  119,  151, 
296,  299,  315. 

Perry,  Commodore,  138. 

Persia,  position  of,  213. 

Peter  the  Great,  his  view  of  the 
importance  of  India,  208. 

Peters,  Dr.  Carl,  292. 

Philippines,  Islamism  in,  249; 
future  of  negro  in,  259. 

Pilgrim  Fathers,  289. 

Polo,  Marco,  271. 

Popes,  influence  in  mediaeval  times, 
38,  39- 

Population  of  the  world,  at  present 
and  at  the  end  of  this  century,  6; 
its  division  into  white  and 
coloured,  107;  according  to 
colour.  III. 

Populations,  modem  growth  of,  3, 
89. 

Portugal,  leads  in  ocean  exploration, 
42. 

Primogeniture,  its  influence  on  the 
history  of  Europe,  30;  differ- 
entiates Europ>e  from  Asia,  31. 

Printing,  effect  of   invention  of,  36, 

37- 
Protection,     in     Japan,     155,     156; 

oligarchical  in  its  nature,  312. 
Prussia,      internationally     negligible 

after  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  51. 

Races,  divisions  and  dwelling- 
grounds  now  settled  for  all  time, 
86;  contest  of  the  future  will  lie 
between  Europe  and  Asia,  97 ; 
antipathy  founded  on  colour,  no. 

Religion,  in  relation  to  colour,  117. 

Representative  Government,  the 
paramount  principle  throughout 
the  civilised  world,  28;  part 
played  by  the  Church  in  its  intro- 
duction, 29,  300. 

Resebecque,  36. 


340 


INDEX 


Richelieu,  49. 

Roman  Empire,  population  in  the 
time  of  Claudius,  10;  slavery 
existed  on  a  vast  scale  in  its  last 
stages,  25 ;  based  on  an  Oriental 
idea,  25 ;  liberty  was  the  liberty 
of  a  city  not  of  a  land,  26;  not 
analogous  to  the  British  Empire, 

305- 
Russia,  birth-rate,  9;  population 
now  and  at  the  end  of  this  century, 
9;  one  of  the  real  difficulties  of 
Asia,  117;  population  compared 
with  China,  Japan,  and  United 
States,  151 ;  on  the  defensive  in 
the  Far  E^st,  177;  European 
frontiers  more  valuable  to  her 
than  Asiatic  frontiers,  177,  178; 
out  of  Europe  an  offensive  Power, 
221 ;  the  natural  ally  of  England 
in  Asia,  222. 

Salauis,  21. 

San  Domingo,  commerce  with 
France  in  the  i8th  century,  58,  59. 

Science,  inventions  have  not 
strengthened  Europe's  dominion 
in  alien  lands,  290. 

Scio,  passage  of,  naval  battle,  269. 

Sea-power,  the  dominant  factor  in 
Europe,  57. 

Seven  Years'  War,  settlement  of 
modem  Europe  dates  from,  69. 

Shanghai  Treaties,  165. 

Siberia,  ethnically  part  of  Europe, 
103. 

Slavery,  existed  on  a  vast  scale  in 
the  last  stages  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  25. 

in  West  Africa,  237. 

Smith,  Dr.  Goldwin,  History  of  the 
United  Slates,  72. 

Spain,  the  first  dominant  Power  in 
Europe,  38;  struggle  against  the 
Moors,  39,  40;  union  of  the 
thrones  of  Aragon  and  Castile, 
40;  attitude  towards  Asia  and 
Africa,  41 ;  her  greatness  de- 
stroyed by  absolutism,  bigotry 
and  militarism,  43;  at  the 
beginning    of    the    17th    century 


still  mightier  than  any  other 
European  Power,  46;  gives  place 
to  France,  46;  false  foundation 
of  her  American  empire,  62. 

Soudan,  246. 

Suez  Canal,  219,  295. 

Sumatra,  259. 

Tariff  Reform,  312, 

Thirty  Years'  War,  result  of,  50. 

Townsend,     Meredith,     Asia     and 

Europe,  194,  246. 
Turkey,  must  eventually  be  driven 

out  of  Europe,  223,  295 ;  as  a  sea 

Power,  269,  270;   area  in  Europe, 

295- 

Uganda,  progress  of  Christianity 
in,  246. 

"Ulterior  projects,"  in  foreign 
policy,  316. 

United  States,  px)pulation  compared 
with  China,  Japan  and  Russia, 
151 ;  will  have  the  greatest  re- 
straining power  over  Japan,  172; 
immense  maritime  weakness, 
172;  will  naturally  expand  south- 
wards, and  not  westwards,  174; 
in  the  popular  mind  the  supreme 
expression  of  a  triumphant  demo- 
cracy, 175;  can  count  on  the 
support  of  the  English  demo- 
cracies of  the  Southern  Pacific, 
176;  miscegenation  in,  229. 

Utrecht,  Peace  of,  52. 

Vauban,  51. 

Vienna,  Congress  of,  81. 

Volkskriege,  22. 

Wars,   of   little   racial   importance, 

22. 
Washington,  Mr.  Booker,  234. 
West    and    East,    necessity    of    a 

radical  revision  in   their   political 

relationships,  267. 
West   Indies,    possible   invasion   by 

blacks,  241. 
White  races,  double  their  numbers 

in  eighty  years,  12;   now  prohibit 

coloured     men     from     invading 


INDEX 


341 


white  countries,  98;  far  weaker 
than  the  coloured  world,  101 ; 
can  come  to  no  agreement  among 
themselves  on  colour  questions, 
112;  possess  twice  as  much  of 
the  world's  area  as  the  coloured 
races,  123,  124;  their  duty 
towards  China,  171;  are  looked 
upon  by  coloured  people  rather 
as  suzerains  than  as  sovereigns, 
287. 


Yakusa,  battle  of,  254. 

Yellow  races,  double  their  numbers 
in  sixty  years,  12;  area  inhabited 
by,  126,  127;  their  countries 
conterminous  and  their  ideals 
and  languages  homologous,  127; 
by  nature  peaceful,  128;  have  an 
excellent  moral  and  social  system, 
128;  their  democratic  feelings 
far  beyond  anything  in  Europe,  1 29. 

Yuan  Shih  BLai,    downfall  of,   157. 


B.  L.  PUTNAM  WEALE'S 

Four  Remarkable  Books 

Are  essential  to  any  intimate  knowledge  of  the  sequence  of 

events  which  have  brought  about  present 

conditions  in  the  Far  East. 


The  first  of  these  books  by  Mr.  B.  L.  Putnam  Weale 

Manchu  and  Muscovite 

issued  at  the  beginning  of  the  Russian  and  Japanese  War, 

attracted  wide  attention  for  its  interest  and  the 

accuracy  of  its  forecasts  based  upon  a 

lifelong  knowledge  of  the  East. 

Cloth,  8vo,  552  pages,  $3.00  net 
COiMMENTS 

"So  far  superior  to  all  other  books  on  the  subject  of  the  Russian 
rule  in  Manchuria  that  it  may  be  considered  really  the  only  one."  — 
Daily  News,  London. 

"  This  is  a  work  of  the  highest  importance  to  any  student  of  the  Far 
Eastern  Crisis.  The  author,  who  has  spent  his  life  among  the  Chinese, 
gives  a  minute  and  detailed  account  of  a  journey  through  Manchuria 
with  the  avowed  object  of  showing  the  character  of  the  Russian  occu- 
pation. He  shows  first  that  Manchuria  is  a  grain-producing  country  of 
the  first  rank,  which  in  its  settled  and  cultivated  parts  is  thoroughly 
Chinese.  .  .  .  The  thesis  of  the  book  is  to  prove,  in  short,  that  the 
supposed  Russification  of  Manchuria  is  a  myth ;  that  the  occupation  is 
purely  military,  and  lacks  all  the  elements  of  permanence.  This  is 
■  illustrated  by  a  stringent  and  very  amusing  examination  of  the  railway 
system,  the  operations  of  the  Russo-Chinese  Bank,  and  the  whole  con- 
duct of  affairs.  The  author  has  the  gift  of  observation  and  of  convey- 
ing his  impressions  so  that  the  whole  picture  of  the  rapidly  built 
fabrication  of  Russian  civilization,  in  contrast  with  the  steady  and 
rooted  organism  of  Chinese  agricultural  and  trading  life,  stands  out 
vividly.  His  forecast  dating  from  last  February,  of  much  that  has 
happened  [e.g.,  the  taking  of  Dalny]  and  much  that  may  yet  happen, 
together  with  his  summary  of  Russia's  military  resources  and  Japan's 
chances,  makes  most  curious  and  interesting  reading.  But  in  its 
essence  the  book  is  an  impeachment  of  Russia's  business  methods  from 
the  point  of  view  of  an  Englishman  who  knows  the  East  and  understands 
business  thoroughly."  —  The  Publishers'  Circular,  London  (1904). 


The  Re-Shaping  of  the  Far  East 

Two  Octavo  Volumes,  with  Illustrations  and  Maps;  red  Cloth, 
gilt  tops,  $6.00  net  {carriage  extra) 

This  book  was  amply  justified  by  the  exactness  with  which  the 
author's  predictions  in  his  "  Manchu  and  Muscovite  "  as  to  the  prob- 
able course  of  the  war  in  Manchuria  were  fulfilled.  The  whole  story  of 
the  way  in  which  the  events  in  Eastern  China,  Korea,  and  Japan  have 
developed,  and  the  manner  in  which  all  these  countries  have  become 
entangled  with  one  another  and  with  rival  European  nations,  is  extraor- 
dinary. The  book,  while  elucidating  this  curious  history,  is  full  of  the 
genuine  atmosphere  of  the  East,  is  exceedingly  readable,  and  is  also 
supplied  with  Appendices  giving  the  official  text  of  most  important 
documents.  Many  of  the  very  interesting  illustrations  are  from  photo- 
graphs taken  by  Japanese  officers  and  supplied  by  the  Government. 
The  British  press  gave  the  work  high  praise ;  and  the  following  are 
examples  of  American  editorial  comments  : 

"An  unusually  illuminating  and  graphic  book.  .  .  .  Mr.  Weale's 
accounts  show  a  really  remarkable  insight  into  conditions  and  pros- 
pects." —  Review  of  Reviews. 

"  We  have  had  no  presentation  of  Russian  domination  of  Manchuria 
of  recent  years  which  compares  with  this  vivid  portrayal  of  Mr.  Weale." 
—  Providence  Journal. 

"Seldom  is  a  book  found  so  crowded  with  information,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  bright  and  lively  in  narrative.  .  .  .  Mr.  Weale  has  pro- 
duced a  book  of  extraordinary  interest."  —  New  York  Globe. 

"  This  is  the  strongest,  most  authoritative,  and  spicy  volume  that  has 
yet  been  issued  on  Russia  in  the  Far  East,  and  is  invaluable  for  those 
seeking  enlightenment,  for  the  man  who  wrote  it  is  no  mere  traveller 
flying  through  these  scenes  on  Russian  railroads,  but  a  seasoned  inhab- 
itant." —  The  Record-Herald,  Chicago. 

"  The  writer  wields  a  strong,  flowing  pen,  grasps  conditions  broadly, 
and  has  the  ability  to  place  before  the  reader  exact  personal  impres- 
sions. At  the  present  time  nothing  would  be  more  interesting.  .  .  . 
His  descriptions  of  the  Slav  and  Chinaman,  of  the  morals,  manners,  and 
mode  of  life  of  the  people  he  came  into  contact  with,  and  the  vast 
amount  of  general  information  which  is  scattered  through  the  volume 
in  the  form  of  observations  and  conclusions,  form  a  whole  of  exceeding 
value  to  the  student  of  affairs  as  well  as  the  general  reader."  —  St.  Paul 
Pioneer  Press. 


The  Truce  in  the  East  and  Its 
Aftermath: 

The  Sequel  to  the  "  Re-Shaping  of  the  Far  East " 

Cloth,  gilt  top,  Illustrations  and  Maps, 
8vo,  $3.50  net;  by  mail  $3.75 

It  is  Mr.  Weale's  crowning  merit  as  a  writer  that  he  always  succeeds 
in  being  interesting.  As  a  man  on  the  spot  he  knows  the  Far  East 
intimately,  and  he  marshals  his  great  mass  of  information  with  such 
good  order  and  lucidity  that  a  very  clear  impression  is  left  on  the  mind 
of  his  readers,  and  especially  a  sense  of  the  importance  to  the  world  at 
large  of  the  problems  he  discusses.  The  many  illustrations,  from 
photographs  —  especially  of  Port  Arthur  after  the  capture  —  are  of 
great  assistance  to  the  reader  in  supplementing  the  pictures  drawn  by 
Mr.  Weale's  vivid  pen.  A  large  general  map,  fully  coloured,  is  also 
provided. 

"  Mr.  Weale  is  always  lucid,  and  even  when  we  are  least  convinced 
by  his  conclusions,  we  feel  that  they  have  been  honestly  founded  upon 
a  fairly  wide  basis  of  knowledge,  experience,  and  thought.  There  is  no 
feature  of  the  present  situation  in  the  Far  East  that  he  does  not  touch 
upon,  always  with  illumination,  not  seldom  with  deep-reaching  insight." 
— Athenceum. 

"Mr.  B.  L.  Putnam  Weale,  author  of  'Manchu  and  Muscovite,' 
'The  Re-Shaping  in  the  Far  East,'  and  'Indiscreet  Letters  from 
Pekin,'  has  written  a  new  book  which  to  us  appears  more  important 
than  all  the  others  put  together.  His  'Manchu  and  Muscovite,' 
brought  out  previous  to  the  war,  furnished  facts  and  figures  about 
Manchuria  very  valuable  in  their  way ;  '  The  Re-Shaping  of  the  Far 
East'  was  interesting  and  contained  a  fund  of  information  about 
China ;  '  Indiscreet  Letters  from  Pekin '  did  the  author  no  particular 
credit ;  but '  The  Truce  in  the  Far  East  and  Its  Aftermath '  should  be 
studied  by  all  who  wish  to  follow  the  development  of  this  world  problem 
which  is  working  itself  out  in  the  Far  East." 

—  Boston  Evening  Transcript. 

"This  is  a  really  remarkable  volume  by  a  keen  observer  and  a 
graphic  writer.  There  is  no  book  among  the  hundreds  that  followed 
the  Russo-Japanese  war  which  approaches  this  one  in  depicting  with 
seeming  accuracy  the  actual  effect  of  the  great  conflict  and  what  may 
be  expected  from  the  future.  ...  A  careful  reading  is  likely  to  modify 
superficial  estimates  of  Japanese  character  and  policy;  it  will  prepare 
one  for  new  history  in  the  Northwestern  Pacific  in  which  Russia  will 
have  a  share,  and  it  will  help  to  elucidate  the  great  enigma  of  the 
Orient  —  China."  —  Chicago  Interior. 


The  Coming  Struggle  in  Eastern  Asia 

One  Octavo  Volume  of  640  pages,  with  Illustrations  and 

a  large  Map,  in  colors,  of  Eastern  Asia. 

Red  cloth,  gilt  top,  $3.50  net 

The  fourth  of  Mr.  Weale's  remarkable  series  of  treatises 
dealing  with  the  Far  East  from  the  point  of  view,  as  he 
expresses  it,  "  that  Russo-Japanese  rivalry  has  been  the 
mainspring  of  the  events  of  recent  years." 

Like  the  former  books,  this  is  a  bright,  vigorous,  and 
pleasing  combination  of  personal  observations  upon  men 
and  things  in  China,  Manchuria,  Korea,  and  the  Pacific 
Coast  provinces  of  Russia,  during  the  year  1907,  and  of 
deductions  therefrom  with  reference  to  tendencies  and 
consequences  political  and  commercial.  It  is  illustrated  by 
photographs  showing  the  countries  and  people  as  they  are 
now;  and  giving  information  as  to  progress  and  tendencies 
up  to  the  present  time.  Its  modernity  is  a  very  important 
feature  of  the  hook. 

"  B.  L.  Putnam  Weale  knows  the  East  better  than  any 
Western  man  who  has  written  of  it  during  this  generation. 
,  .  .  Mr,  Weale  has  seen,  has  recorded,  and  is  able  to 
tell  so  many  tangible  facts  regarding  Eastern  Asia  that  it 
is  a  matter  of  astonishment  how  one  man  can  have  learned 
it  all."  —  New  York  Times. 

"  Putnam  Weale  has  probably  written  the  most  compre- 
hensive and  informing  work  on  the  Far  East  and  its 
problems  that  has  appeared  since  the  Russo-Japanese  war. 
In  its  exhaustive  consideration  of  the  most  vital  questions 
it  will  be  of  priceless  value  in  enabling  the  occidental  to 
understand  what  is  really  taking  place."  —  Chicago  Record' 
Herald. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

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